In The End
by TheLightsShadow
Summary: Itachi never killed the clan and Sasuke grew up as a normal kid. Naruto was never acknowledged growing up and is now cold and aloof. The two seemed to be complete opposites. Will Naruto, in the end, be the one to leave with Orochimaru?
1. Welcome To My Life

**Heh, yes I know. You're probably thinking, "What the hell are you doing working on another fic when you need to update on "Man's Best Friend"?!?!"**

**-sweat drop- to tell you the truth, I have no idea where this one came from. This plot bunny just viciously attacked me…and I had no choice but to type this up.**

**I don't even know if this is going to be good or not!**

**Warnings: Major OOC-ness. Remember, Uchiha clan is still alive and runnin'.**

**AND THIS IS _YAOI_!!!**

**So please… read and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Me don't own.**

Summary: Itachi never killed the clan and Sasuke grew up as a normal kid. Naruto was never acknowledged growing up and is now cold and aloof. The two seemed to be complete opposites. Will Naruto, in the end, be the one to leave with Orochimaru?

**Chapter One: Welcome To My Life.**

_BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZ-**SLAM!**_

Uzumaki Naruto's fist came down on the poor battered alarm clock with no mercy at all, and silenced it immediately.

His tanned arm the slipped back and into the warm covers he had wrapped himself in. The apartment building's heating had, coincidently, shut down in the middle of the night and he had no choice but to grab an extra blanket and huddle for warmth.

'_I still think **they** turned off my heating. Sadistic bastards.'_ Naruto growled and reluctantly pulled off the covers.

It took him half an hour to quickly shower, dress and eat breakfast. He wanted to leave early today.

He had passed the Gennin Exam yesterday, and today they would be assigned to a Jounin sensei and put three man team. He didn't really want to put up with the other two gennin on his 'would-be' team, but he knew he had no choice. So, he wanted peace on the way there; meaning he didn't want Uchiha Sasuke walking with him; trying to make friends. That, right there, lowered his patience considerably. Then he had to deal with Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino cooing and purring in his ear. Hopefully they'll go and bother Sasuke today…

He looked his at himself in the long mirror and nodded. It was a simple 'get-up', slightly baggy blue jeans, and a tight fitting orange shirt. His hitai-ate hung loose around his neck. If he needed to fight, he would move it to his forehead to keep his bangs out of his eyes. Naruto ran his fingers through his hair once and shrugged before walking towards the front door.

Naruto finished slipping on his shoes and opened the door, completely ready for the day… hopefully.

- - - -

Uchiha Sasuke ran out the front door, a piece of toast in his mouth when he tried to tell Itachi goodbye.

"Mmh-mye Maniji!" (Goodbye Aniki!)

Itachi smiling and waved, "Have a good day, Sasuke." he mumbled. The younger Uchiha was already out of ear shot.

Sasuke ran down the street he knew lead to Naruto apartment building. For some reason, something told him to get up earlier than usual… that if he slept a while longer, he would miss his usual walk with Naruto.

He stopped at the familiar building, and didn't sense Naruto's unique chakra anywhere near. _'That bastard left me!' _he growled and gnawed at his bread. _'I'll just have to catch up to him!' _Sasuke jumped on top of a building and headed towards the Ninja Academy.

It hadn't taken long before he saw a mop of blond hair. _'There you are!'_

He reached and took the toast out of his mouth and yelled, "Naruto!!" he saw him stop, but said blond didn't turn around.

Sasuke landed beside him and resumed walking, "Why did you leave so early?"

"…"

"You could have at least waited for me."

"…"

"You're not going to talk to me?"

"…"

Sasuke sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get a good conversation going. All he wanted was to be friends with Naruto. Was that so much to ask?

"Will you at least say 'Good Morning'?" Sasuke tried once again.

"Its not a… 'Good Morning' anymore." Naruto growled and stuck his hands into his pockets.

Sasuke smiled, 'Finally!'

"And why is that?"

"You're here."

Sasuke's smile promptly fell. 'For some reason… that really hurt.'

"Is my company that horrible?"

"Yes." There was so hesitation.

"Why?!" Sasuke walked in front of Naruto and stopped him. "Look, I just want to have a nice conversation! Is that so much to ask?!"

"You are so selfish." Naruto glared, "**You** want something that I **really** don't want to give nor have." he kept his voice even. "I don't want to be your friend, Sasuke. I don't know why that is so hard to accept, nor why you keep trying to make it otherwise."

Naruto walked around Sasuke and stopped, "Your so annoying." then kept on walking.

Sasuke stood there and clenched his fist. _'He didn't have to say all those things.' _He turned around and watch the blond disappear around the corner. _'Why does he want to __**be**__ alone? Doesn't he know? Everyone needs someone… I want to be that someone.' _Sasuke ran after him.

Naruto was always alone. Sasuke never seen him with anyone during his free time, just… horribly alone. It hurt to see him like that. And he saw him everyday, so it hurt everyday.

'_I will be his friend… one day, I know it.' _he smiled when he reached the other's side.

- - - -

Unimo Iruka watched as Naruto and Sasuke walked in. "Hm, you boys are early today. What the occasion?" he smiled and waited for Sasuke to answer him. He knew Naruto would say anything, hell he barely knew what his voice sounded like.

"Oh, its nothing Iruka-sensei, Naruto just woke up early… so I had to run and catch up with him." Sasuke smiled and took his seat next to the blond, who turned and looked out the window.

The classroom door opened again and Sakura and Ino walked in. _'Huh? They're early too?'_

"Good Morning, Iruka-sensei" they both said in unison then stopped and glared at each other. _'Those two are so weird. They are always together, yet always at each other's throats.' _he smiled, _'Well, they say best friends fight the most… I guess'_

The two soon forgot about each other when they say Naruto and Sasuke.

"Naruto-kun!" Ino rang and sat on his desk. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Sasuke-kun, how is your morning?" Sakura batted her eye lashes and leaned in.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as they looked out the window, _'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come so early… next time when I have one of these strange impulses; I'll just sleep in.'_ he was then brought out of his thoughts when he felt someone touch his head.

His hand immediately snapped up and slapped the hand out of the way, "Don't touch me. Leave me alone." Naruto said and glared.

Ino ignored him completely, "Oh my gosh Naruto! Your hair is so soft! Let me touch it again."

"Touch me again, and you'll pull back without a hand." he threatened and he saw Sasuke smirk at him in the corner of his eye.

Soon after everyone started pouring into the room. People Naruto didn't really care for. He grimaced at the thought, _'Dear God… two of these people are going to be on my team!?'_

As Naruto looked around the room, Sasuke was hoping that he would be put on the same team as Naruto. The blond was excellent in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and he needed some work on his Genjutsu, but hell, so did he.

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, _'Plus, it would insure that I get to see him everyday. He'll crack down on the pressure for sure, and admit that he sees me as a friend.'_

Sasuke looked over and saw the blank look on his face. But, since he knew how to tell what he was thinking without facial expression, he could see the slight disgust, and a sliver of horror. _'Heh, yes Naruto. Believe it or not two of the gennins in this room are going to be your teammates. And hopefully I'll be one of them.'_

Everyone settled down as Iruka-sensei called out names:

"Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji. Your Jounin instructor will be Asuma-sensei."

Ino pouted, there were no good looking guys on his team. Shikamaru had his head down on the desk, asleep and Chouji nodded will digging into his bag of chips.

"Team 8: Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba. Your Jounin instructor will be Kurenai-sensei."

Hinata looked at her teammates, Shino made no comment and Kiba scowled at Shino before nodding.

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto,"

Naruto perked at his name, Sasuke held him breath and every other girl sat on the edge of their chairs. They wanted to be on the same team at Naruto.

Iruka continued, "Uchiha Sasuke," said person beamed and clenched his fist, "Yes!". Naruto's head slammed into the top of the table, "No…"

Every remaining girl in the room prayed to be on Team 7. They would be able to train with the two most hottest guys in the room. They would have eye candy **all** day, and hopefully, if they got close enough, **date** one of them.

Iruka said the last member, "and Haruno Sakura. Your Jounin instructor is Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura jumped out of her chair, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Score one for Sakura!"

Every girl groaned in dismay, Sasuke ignored the pinkette. He had gotten what he wanted. and Naruto was now pulling his hair out now, "God… what have I done wrong?" he said as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Please wait here, and your Jounin will come to pick you up. Good luck."

Sakura giggled happily and ran to sit next to Sasuke. Sasuke scooted away from her and moved closer to Naruto. Naruto was near the window and couldn't scoot anywhere. _'I could always jump out of the window.' _the thought crossed his mind.

Time passed and each team was picked up by their Jounin, leaving the newly joined Team 7 last.

"Where the hell is this guy?" Sasuke mumbled next to Naruto, who "Hn." in agreement.

Sakura sighed heavily, "Maybe he had something to do…"

"No.. he knows he has a team here waiting for him. That asshole is extremely late." Sasuke stood and walked towards the chalkboard and grabbed an eraser.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing?" she watched as the raven opened the door slightly and wedged the eraser at the very top, between the door and frame.

"That won't get him, he a Jounin, remember?" she said, but on the inside he was extremely giddy. _'Sasuke-kun is going to play a trick! If it hits, it going to be sooo awesome, CHA!!'_

"I'm aware that he's a Jounin. But I'm bored and I can't stay still forever." Sasuke dusted his hands and walked to sit next to Naruto.

"You just proved an old saying…"

Sakura's head snapped in the direction of the voice, she didn't get to heard Naruto talk a lot. But every time he did, she was always all ears. He was bound to say something smart. _'Bronze and brain. You gotta love it.'_

"Oh really?" Sasuke muttered.

The blond nodded. "The idle mind is the devil's workshop."

Sakura smiled while Sasuke scowled.

Sasuke opened his mouth to counter when chakra spiked through the air. Naruto's head looked over, towards the door and a gloved hand moved to push the door open. A head moved between just as he did this, and the eraser fell and landed directed on top.

Sakura nearly smiles, _'CHA! Direct hit!'_

Sasuke blinked initially before smirking, _'Nice.'_

Naruto rose a brow, _'What kind of Jounin gets hit but an erase? That got to be one of the oldest tricks there is!'_

"Hm." the man dusted the chalk off of his head, "My first impression of you… is that you are all idiot."

Silence.

"Meet me on top of the roof for introductions." and poof, he was gone.

Naruto stood immediately, "Baka." he mumbled to Sasuke, who just sighed. The Uchiha followed after the blond and Sakura said, "I thought the eraser idea was great, Sasuke-kun."

"…It doesn't matter what you think.. Just what Naruto and our Jounin thinks."

Sakura stumbled, "What? Naruto?"

Sasuke ignored her and continued upstairs.

- - - -

"Maa, my name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes… I don't feel like mentioning. My dislikes… none of your business. My dreams… also none of your business." Kakashi looked over towards Sasuke. "Your turn."

Sasuke glared at his sensei's introduction but none the less did as he said, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like a lot of things, so I won't mention them. I dislike those who think highly of themselves. My ambitions are to got someone to notice me… and to become a reliable asset to Konoha."

Kakashi hummed and wondered who the Uchiha wanted acknowledgment from. Oh well, he'd find that out later. He pointed towards the Kunoichi of the group, "Your turn."

Sakura smiled prettily, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like…" she looked towards the two boys to her left. "Um, my dreams are…" a look again.

Kakashi's sweat dropped, "And your dislikes?"

"I hate Ino-pig!!"

'_Figures. Girls her age are more interested in boys than they are training.' _Kakashi then looked towards the last member of the team who had his hands intertwined in front of his mouth. 'Hm, the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. This should be interesting.'

"Your next."

Naruto moved his hands and cross them in front of his chest, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. That's all you'll get out of me. My likes and dislikes aren't important on a mission, and my ambition is none of your concern." Naruto looked Kakashi straight in the eye. "The only thing you need to know is that I **need** to get stronger. That's it."

Sasuke looked over at the blond _'Need? Why?'_

**OK… that's it for that. Please tell me what you think about this fic. Cause I don't know what to think.. And that's kinda bad, heh.**

**Plus, I don't know when I'm gonna update on this. So hopefully everyone out there will be patient… even if I plan update.**

**Anyways.. PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	2. Everyday

**-squeals- YAY! 26 reviews! **

**I'm glad there are some people out there that like my newest fic, I always get this warm and fuzzy feeling just thinking about it :D**

**I want to thank my friend Kaikouken for an awesome beta job! You rock my socks girl!**

**So, without further ado…**

_Little six years old Naruto ran. He ran with all his heart. Where? He didn't know. All he knew was something was calling him, whispering his name, beckoning him in a huskily faint voice. _

_For the first time in his life, someone was calling for him, wanting him and he'd be damned if he was going to keep them waiting._

_He had snuck out of Konoha, but not far. If he were to look back, he would still be able to see the wall that ran around the village._

'_**Who is calling for me?**' The small boy thought and stopped immediately._

_There in the distance was someone wearing a black cloak. His face was overshadowed by the hood on top of his head, but he could distinctly see… that his caller was holding his arms out to him._

- - - -

"Naruto," Sasuke's voice broke into his thoughts, "Do you want to grab a bite to eat? I know a great place down the ro-"

"No." After meeting their sensei; they were told to meet him the next day at the bridge. He didn't give them any details about what they were going to do, but it really didn't matter to the blond, just as long as he got stronger. Fast.

He heard Sakura say, "If Naruto-kun won't go with you, I'll be happy to, Sasuke-kun!" And Naruto growled. For some reason he couldn't stand formalities. People had names and he didn't want to go on adding suffixes to it, just to flatter them.

"I didn't ask you Sakura." the raven said. Naruto watched as the young Uchiha heir's eyes gleamed with hope as he turned his attention back to Naruto. "Why not? We've got the rest of the day ahead of us; I know I don't have anything better to do."

Naruto growled and sharply glared, "And that's why you are weak." Sasuke's hopeful composure fell and was replace with anger. "What did you say?!"

"Back with Kakashi, you said you wanted to become a reliable asset to Konoha… you can't become that if you want such feeble things." Naruto had meant what he said, and he also wanted the Uchiha off of his back; two birds with one stone. Besides, he'd had up to here with this 'friendliness' bullshit. He wanted to be alone. Now.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura chased, and he cringed at his suffixed-name "Sasuke-kun was just trying to be nice. Besides, what harm would it do? We're going to be spending time together no matter what… why not just get use to it?"

"Hey Pinky, I don't recall asking for your opinion. Butt out." Naruto glared at her too.

"Hey! I'm just trying to be nice, too! Stop being such a-"

Naruto took a threatening step forward, "Look. If I wanted any lip off of you, I would've gotten it from my zipper."

Sakura gasped and blushed.

"I don't feel like talking anymore. Just leave me alone, I don't see why that is so hard to ask." the blond then resumed walking away and disappearing around the corner.

Sasuke, for once, let him go. What Naruto had said had gotten to him. No one, besides Itachi (what brother doesn't), had ever called him weak. And the first person that did, was the person whose attention he wanted to most. _'I'll just have to show him that I'm strong. He shouldn't underestimate Uchiha Sasuke.'_

Sakura stood silently beside her crush and watch his facial features. She decided that it was best if he was left alone, for once. "Um, I think I'm gonna go home. I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun." she walked away.

Sasuke sighed and started to walk home. _'I'm going to have to try harder. Maybe if I do things… more subtle manner. But how the hell-'_

"Well, look at this? My brother, Uchiha Sasuke, looking blue and constipated." Sasuke saw Itachi walking up to him, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Sasuke was then put into a head lock by Itachi, "OK! OK! Let me go!"

- - - -

Naruto unlocked his front door, kicked off his shoes and walked into the kitchen. _'Well, its time for my lunch.' _he opened the refrigerator, "What the hell?" he blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't seeing things_.-blink- _Yup, still empty. 'Dammit! Not again!'

He had stocked his fridge with food that would at least last him for two weeks! Now he didn't have any food! Grr, the only person who had his key was Naruto and the manager of the apartments…

There were three solutions to this:

1) Naruto was delusional and he didn't buy all that food. It was definitely not that one, he wasn't delusional… but how would he know if he was or not? Naruto shrugged.

2) The manager was being a bitch in heat, like always, and he was stealing his food. But why the hell would he do that? Naruto needed something to eat! He was a growing boy for fuck sake! He needed nutrition! Naruto sighed. Why did all the adults hate him? What did he ever do wrong? 'Well, sometimes you just have to make an enemy... I guess'

3) It wasn't the manager and someone had broken into his place. The blond hummed, and checked all his traps. Nope, no one had broken in… unless it was a jounin?

"AARRGGHH!" why the hell would it be a jounin?! Wouldn't he have something better to do?! "I just need to stop thinking. I'm blaming it on the manager. That's it! End of discussion."

Naruto stood there for a while. "I'm still hungry."

- - - -

Itachi sighed, "So you're trying to get Uzumaki-kid's attention?" This could either be good or bad.

"Yes. Is that so bad?" Sasuke sat down next to his older brother, and looked up at him.

"Sasuke… there are some people who... like to be alone. It's just the way they operate."

"Why would someone subject themselves to that?"

The older sighed once more, "There isn't a reason to everything. Uzumaki-kun grew up like that and he doesn't want that to change." he saw the frown on Sasuke's face,

"…I know Naruto is an orphan… but still... To be alone like that. It has to be hard on him… Aniki, do you know what happened to his parents?" the raven's tone was low.

"I wish I knew."

"You wish?"

Itachi smiled, "Uzumaki-kun is strong, and he'll be a great ninja one day. I'm sure it's in his blood, thus I would like to know if his parents were strong."

Sasuke smiled, "I see."

Itachi returned the smile, "Good." He stood, "Now its time for you to go home. It's your turn to help Okaa-san with dinner."

The other slouched, "Ah man. I forgot… where are you going?"

Itachi murmured, "To pay someone a visit."

- - - -

'_I only have three ryou and a bowl of ramen is three fifty.' _Naruto stood in front of Ichiraku's. _'Maybe the old man will let me charge, he is one of the few that is nice to me.' _he moved to step in but stopped. _'No, I shouldn't. I don't want to own anyone anything.'_

Naruto's stomach begged him to reconsider.

"…Do you want to go in?" a deep voice spoke beside him, and Naruto sharply turned around.

There stood Uchiha Itachi in full ninja uniform (not ANBU) smiling lightly at him. They had not met properly but Naruto guess that Sasuke told Itachi about him. But why was he here?

"…" Naruto continued to stare at the older man and Itachi felt the full weight of the gaze.

The Uchiha cleared his throat and held out his hand, "I'm sorry for coming up and talking to you like this but my name is Uchiha Ita-"

"Itachi, I know." Naruto didn't shake the hand and moved to walk away.

Itachi faltered for a second and repeated, "Did you want to go in?"

The blond stopped. "I don't know you."

The other smiled, "And?"

"What do you want?"

"You looked hungry, so I wanted to get you something to eat."

"I don't need your pity."

"And I am not giving it." Itachi walked into the stand.

Naruto's stomach growled again and he sighed. 'Just this once…'

Itachi and Naruto didn't talk throughout the meal, but during the meal, Naruto kept catching the other staring at him in the corner of his eye. And before they parted ways Itachi kept looking at him, like he was asking a favor.

Those onyx eyes glimmered with a plea before Itachi smiled and walked away.

…and the blond had an idea what he was asking. _'Dammit,' _he looked down at his belly, _'See what you've done!'_

- - - -

The once warm day slowly faded into the dark moonless night as people closed up shops and headed home for a night of well earned sleep.

The night slipped away as the stars crossed the sky, bringing the sun's luminous light in its wake just as it did yesterday.

Sakura's hand hit the alarm clock on the side of her bed.

Sasuke pulled the covers off of him as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye.

Naruto made his way to the shower.

Sakura toweled her wet hair and plugged in her blow dryer.

Sasuke adjusted his hitai-ate.

Naruto closed his door and locked it, after making extra traps.

Sakura waved to someone as she walked down the street.

Sasuke smiled and started running when he saw Naruto's familiar orange back.

Naruto frowned as Sasuke stopped beside him, "Ohayo Naruto." the blond noticed that he was less active this morning. He was about to scowl when he remembered Itachi's pitch black eyes.

"Hn."

Sakura beamed brightly and waved as she saw her two teammates, "Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun! Ohayo!"

Sasuke nodded in greeting while Naruto walked past and leaned against the rail of the bridge. Sakura and Sasuke settled on both sides of him.

The Kyuubi-container twitched. They were getting close again. The feeling of being surrounded always made him feel aggressive,

Sasuke unconsciously scooted closer to the blond, Naruto noticed and scooted away and closer to Sakura.

The rosette blushed and moved closer, thinking the blond was trying to come on to her. 'I've never been this close to Naruto-kun before.' she took a deep breath to claim her nerves and caught the fresh musk of the boy beside her. _'…hm.' _she breathed again. _'What kind of scent is that? It smells so good.'_

Naruto felt Sakura lean against his side, _'Calm down Naruto,' _he breathed _'just close your eye and block them out.'_

And he did after a while. He ignored Sasuke's shoulder pressing against his. He ignored Sakura's head resting on his other.

But ever since last night's little dinner with Itachi and his unsaid request, he was completely aware of Sasuke. Right now, he could definitely smell him.

It was fresh.

It was untouched.

It was innoce-

'_STOP!' _Naruto mentally yelled, _'Don't you dare finish that thou-'_

Sakura fortunately cut his thoughts short, "Naruto-kun, what kind of scent do you use?" She smelt his shoulder.

"Scent?" Sasuke then buried his nose on the other side, "Hm, you do smell good."

"See!" the other giggled, "What kind of scent is it Naruto-kun?"

Naruto was furious…and disturbed. 'Cause he didn't ever use cologne.

- - - - **One Hours Later** - - - -

"Do you think Kakashi-sensei forgot about us?"

"I don't think so, he's the one that told us to come here in the fist place."

The three were now sitting (in the same order).

Naruto's eyes were still closed, his arms and legs crossed. Sakura had her arm around his and Sasuke had his head on his shoulder.

The two would talk and sometimes try to get something out of him, but again: he was ignoring them.

And they were getting less annoying. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad one.

'_Where the fuck is Kakashi?!' _Naruto thought miserably.

- - - - **Two Hours Later** - - - -

'_They're asleep.' _Naruto's eyes peeked open. _'And they are using me as a pillow.' _he sighed.

Sakura's head was resting on his knee and Sasuke was hugging his arm to himself and resting against his shoulder. _'God, it's like I'm taking care of children.'_

Chakra flickered through the air and moments later, Kakashi poof-ed in front of them.

"Yo-" he blinked at the sight before him, "Well, well, well, is seems Naruto **does** have a soft side." the Jounin smiled to himself.

"What took you so fucking long?" He hissed, trying not to rouse his teammates, but he could never get his way as Sakura yawned.

Her turquoise eyes landed on Kakashi and they flashed in anger "YOU'RE LATE!''

Sasuke groaned at being abruptly awoken and he buried his nose into the warm arm he was holding.

'_Wait.' _Sasuke opened his eyes and saw that he was latched on to Naruto. Thinking that the look of anger on his face was because of him, he quickly get go. _'Dammit! I'm trying **not** to get on his nerves! And here I am doing that in my sleep!'_

Naruto stood. "Why are you late?"

Kakashi scratched behind his head, "Heh, I got lost."

"Lost?!" Sakura squawked, "How can you get lost?! You **live** in Konoha!"

"I got lost on the road to life."

"LAIR!"

Naruto sighed, _'This is what I'm going to be dealing with… everyday...'_

**Well that's it for that…**

**I really didn't know when I was going to update on this, but when I saw how many reviews I received… well, lets just say I couldn't ignore all the 'Please update soon!'s**

**Reviews make me EXTREMELY happy and I just might update sooner!**

**Please review!!**


	3. Discoveries

**-yawn- So sleepy! TT-TT**

**Heh, I got 33 reviews this time :) Yatta! And as a gift! I have given you a long chapter! And cookies!**

**Thank you guys so much! -hands out cookies- It really means alot to me -sniff-**

**And once again: I want to thank Kaikouken for editing the chapter! -huggles-**

**So! While you guys read the chapter... I will be taking a quick nap! See you at the end.**

**Disclaimer: Me don't own -sob-**

**Discoveries**

_They had been meeting once every month now. Five months to be exact._

_Naruto would let himself bask in the presence of his stranger. He didn't know his name, he didn't know what he looked like, he didn't even know why the stranger was here. But he wasn't going to question it, he'd found someone that, unintentionally, made him happy._

_His stranger didn't frown, scowl, scorn him for doing nothing, he didn't call him monster or demon. He just sat there, smiling, showed affection and allowed Naruto stay close to him._

"_Naruto?"_

_The somewhat stoic child looked up at him with big blue eyes, "Yes?"_

"…_what do you think about Konoha?" The stranger wrapped his long arm around him, pulling him closer._

"_Konoha?" Naruto blushed and fisted the man's cloak._

"_Yes," the other's hood was pulled back some, and Naruto could see the stranger's friendly smile. "Do you like it? Does it make you happy?"_

"_No." the child's answer was sharp. "I hate that _**place**_!" he spat. "The grown-ups are always mean to me… for no reason at all. I could just be sitting there and they would be mean…" the last part was whispered but the stranger still caught it._

_Large hands smooth out his blond locks, "_ Did_ I do something wrong?" he seemed to ask himself but, none the less, looked up at the other._

_Naruto could clearly see that the beautiful smile was gone; his lips were pressed into a thin line._

_The blond child took this as a bad thing, "I did?"_

_His stranger pulled him closer, if possible, and took a deep breath, "No… you did nothing wrong, Naruto."_

_- - - - _

A groan escaped Naruto's lips as he stepped through his door. His whole body was sore from today's training but, he couldn't complain really. This was exactly what he had wanted, to be pushed to his limit, and grow stronger.

It had been two weeks since Team 7 was formed. They had done over a handful of D-ranked missions in just one day, and then train afterwards. It was ok for the first three days, then it started taking a toll on him. His muscles were aching, his back hurt, and his shoulders felt like there was a ton of weight on them.

The blond stiffly pealed off his sweaty orange shirt and threw it in his hamper. There, a faded scar could be seen for the first time. It ran from the middle of his right side, down toward the middle to his navel.

Naruto absently rubbed it. "Shower." he mumbled.

- - - -

Sasuke groaned as he walked to the Uchiha estate. He never realized how far away his house was until now.

Today, he had done six D-ranked missions and sparred with Naruto and to say the least, he was impressed with the blond's fighting skills. He wasn't able to beat him yet though, _'Maybe I should ask Otou-san for some training or maybe Aniki_.' He reached up to slide his front door open and hissed, _'Ok, maybe I'll ask when I'm not so sore.'_

"Sasuke-kun, is that you?" his mother called from the kitchen as he walked into the living room.

"Yes ma'am!" he answered back.

She appeared in the doorway, her lips smiling, eyes twinkling with her blue black hair flipped over her shoulder. His mother, Uchiha Mikoto, was a thing of beauty. There was no sign of aging, and no sign of slowing down.

She was always there to give him love and support he needed. The young Uchiha knew he was a 'Mama's boy', but he didn't care… Sasuke didn't know what he would do without her.

"How was your day, Sasuke-kun?"

"Tiring, Okaa-san." he moved and sat at the dinner table. She teasingly poked him in the side and cooed in sympathy when he grimaced. "Maa, I'll get you some muscle relaxer and something to eat. Sit." she pointed at the table.

The two talked aimlessly afterwards, what plans they had, what occasions would be coming up soon etc.

"So, I heard through the grape vine that you're trying to get someone's attention."

Sasuke tensed as his mother giggled, "So who's the lucky lady?"

"Eh? Lady?"

"Don't play dumb, every morning you rush out the door to try and meet up with her. Don't think I don't know." Mikoto sipped her hot tea.

'…_? The only person I want to walk with is-! Dear god!'_

"No, Okaa-san! I don't walk with a girl!" he hurriedly yelled, "Besides… all the girls my age are fickle and loud."

She tilted her head, "Then why are you in such a rush? One of these days I'd like to have my family here eating breakfast."

Sasuke hesitated. There was this weird feeling… something told him not to tell her.

"…well?"

"Ano... fine, it's a girl."

Sasuke watched his mother frown, _'Smooth Sasuke, now she is definitely suspicious.'_

"Okaa-san, may I be excused?" he stood in a hurry.

Mikoto sighed; her son wasn't going to tell her anything... today. She'll bug him about it later, for now, she would let Sasuke go and rest. Mikoto was sure he was exhausted.

"Yes, you are excused."

- - - -

In the morning, Sasuke found himself having a 'chat' with his father. He was droning on and on about wooing some girl, what are the right and wrong things to say, and how much space you should give them… yada yada yada.

The raven knew his mother had said something… and it looked like she bought the whole 'walking with a girl' story; if she didn't, then she would at least be skeptical about it. If not…

'_This must be Okaa-san's punishment.'_

"You'll need to pay attention to her facial expressions, because they aren't very good at hiding their feelings. If she frowns, it is obviously bad. If you see some hesitation, don't smother her… let her decide on her own."

"Yes sir."

Sasuke looked at the clock, _'Dammit, if I don't hurry up, I won't be able to walk with Naruto!'_

"…Eh? Sasuke, are you listening?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go or I'll be late Otou-san." It hurt Sasuke to say the next part, "Can we continue this later?"

"Sure son."

Sasuke left the house quick, fast and in a hurry.

- - - -

Naruto knew he was a tad bit late, but he didn't care. Kakashi was late all the fucking time, why would today be any different. He needed his sleep DAMMIT!

'…_plus, I'll probably have a nice quiet walk there.'_

"NARUTO!"

"Grr, I spoke too soon." he mumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Naruto stopped and waited for Sasuke to catch up with him. His whole nice streak only went this far.

But he found that pacifying the Uchiha was slightly rewarding. Sasuke wasn't as annoying and he was a tad bit quiet; he couldn't figure out if he was developing a tolerance or… well… he didn't know.

"Thanks for waiting." Sasuke spoke and resumed walking. They walked in comfortable silence until the Uchiha broke it, "I guess you're late like me. Otou-san was giving me a lecture about wooing girls. What kept you?"

Naruto rose a brow at that but replied none the less, "I slept in." simple and concise.

Sasuke gave a small laugh and scratched his head. "Must be nice... sleeping in."

"It was righteous." Naruto yawned. "But I could've slept longer."

Sasuke blinked. Naruto was talking more than usual, sure it was only two more sentences than usual… but this was a break through!! He wanted to milk this for as long as he could.

"Heh, Kakashi-sensei has been working us hard. I have a feeling he's going to enter us in the up coming Chuunin Exams." Sasuke added another topic, hoping the blond would take it.

"Hn." He didn't and Sasuke instantly deflated. '_So much for that.'_

Sasuke matched Naruto's brisk pace and let his thoughts, from this morning, consume him. '_I can't believe Okaa-san told Otou-san that… I was trying to get some 'girl's' attention.'_ he discreetly looked at Naruto, _'and to top that off, Otou-san gives me some advice on 'wooing''_

'_I walk with Naruto every morning…'_ Sasuke couldn't control his next thoughts, '…_wooing a boy, Naruto no less. What are they? Crazy? I mean… Naruto is good on the eyes… and not only that… he's strong, reserved, a-and smart.'_

The Uchiha's pace slowed some as he watched the other beside him. The blond's steps were even and light along with his graceful strides. Naruto had an even caramel tan to match his lithe figure. Broad shoulders, narrow waist and muscular legs... from what he could see under the jeans and shirt.

Sasuke felt a blush prickling his cheeks. _'Why haven't I noticed this before?_' he was walking even slower now.

Naruto had felt Sasuke staring at him this whole time. It was a bit unnerving, to say the least and after a couple of seconds he started to feel self-conscious. Naruto stopped and looked over his shoulder, "…what are you looking at?"

He watched as Sasuke snapped his head up and flushed red instantly. _'What the hell?'_ the blond raised a brow.

Sasuke was in a trance and when Naruto turned around, he saw a different side of Naruto he'd never seen. His blond hair kind of flipped when Naruto turned his head, those beautiful blue eyes shimmered when the sun, at the right direction, reflected off them. Then, for an added effect, the wind decided it was the right time to blow, pulling Naruto's hair in a slow waving dance.

In just one turn, Naruto was captivating. '_Damn, no wonder nearly every girl is vying for his attention_.'

Naruto watched as Sasuke's eyes glazed over. He knew that look. Hell, he'd seen it everyday. But Naruto never thought that he would see _that_ look from Sasuke. _'Man, I use to have a good gay-dar. What the hell happen to it?'_

"Sasuke, I know I'm hot… but now isn't the time to be staring." Naruto said and continued to walk, leaving Sasuke standing there.

Everything caught up to the young Uchiha moments later, _'…he knew what I was thinking?!_'

- - - -

Kakashi arrived an hour later. Still late, but it was earlier than he usually was.

They were told that instead of a D-ranked mission, they would receive a C-rank for good behavior.

They would be escorting an experienced bridge builder to Kirigakure and protect him until he is finished building a bridge that connects them to the main land.

When he heard this, Chibi-Naruto did a little happy dance in his head but on the outside, he remained impassive. Sasuke definitely showed that he was happy with the news with a smirk and a pump with the fist. He had been thinking what had happened between him and Naruto this whole time, but briefly forgot about it when he heard the news. Sakura, on the other hand, was a tad bit hesitant to raise the bar. She shuffled her feet and looked down at the news.

Kakashi smiled at his Genins, "I knew that would make you guys happy! I'll give you two hours to go home, pack and meet at the main gates. Ja!" and promptly disappeared.

The three, without saying goodbye to one another, took off in the directions of their houses. It was their first away mission, and they wanted to be prepared for anything!

- - - -

Naruto arrived only seconds before Kakashi came with their charge.

Their employer was a man named Tazuna, a man that looked like he was in his forties... And he arrived drunk. _'God knows why he needs body guards…'_ the blond thought and watched as Sasuke clenched his fist when Tazuna insulted them.

'_Sasuke_ _shouldn't even give a damn what this guy says. He seriously doesn't know what we are capable of.'_ Naruto scowled.

"Tazuna-san, you don't have to worry. My Genin are very capable ninja and if it makes you feel better, I'll be going as well. If anything happens, I'll protect you."

"Ch… whatever." Tazuna turned towards them, "Just don't fall behind. I want to get to Kirigakure as fast as I can."

As they walked outside the protective walls of Konoha; Sasuke smiled, "Wow… I've never been outside the village before. What about you Naruto?"

Naruto frowned as he remembered, _'I'd only ventured outside of these walls once a month to meet _him_…_'

Naruto wished to find a way to see the man again... sooner. "…hn."

Sasuke was once again frustrated. Sure, Naruto had been talking more lately. But he couldn't help but feel he was making very _slooooooow_ progress.

At this rate, he would be able to get a full conversation out of Naruto at the age… twenty? Maybe twenty-five? Either way, this would not do!

Kakashi watched Naruto's facial expression. '_Hm_…' the blond had a weird reminiscent look on his face. _'Naruto _has_ been outside this village before… but why? How?'_

Sakura walked closer to Naruto and snuck looks at the blond, '_Hehe, Naruto-kun looks as handsome as he does everyday.' _

Then Sakura's domed head came up with an idea. She had noticed a couple of weeks ago, at their first team meeting, that Naruto didn't mind her touching him. _'I wonder…'_

The rosette tentatively reached over and gently hooked her arm around his. Sakura held her breath, waiting for Naruto to reject the contact and shove her away… and it didn't happen. She blinked twice and smiled victoriously. '_Oh yeah! Who rocks?! Sakura does! CHA!'_

Naruto nearly flinched when he felt someone's soft hand slide around his arm. _'Who the fuck- oh.'_ he quickly calmed down once he saw that it was just Sakura. _'What is it with her and wanting to touch me?'_ Naruto had felt the palm of her hand brush the inside of his arm and noted that there weren't any calluses. _'Only shows that she doesn't train half as much as she does training her looks in front of a mirror.'_

For some reason, seeing Sakura hanging off of Naruto like that pissed Sasuke the hell off! It took all of his control not to go over there and rip her off of him!

Sasuke clenched his fists, '_Why do I care? It's not like I'm trying to get in his pants_.' he then remembered how stunning Naruto looked, for a split second, that afternoon.

"…my face hurts." he mumbled and rubbed his reddening cheeks.

- - - -

'_Something... isn't right_.' Naruto looked over his shoulder as he saw another puddle of water. They weren't that far from the village so if rained it would rain in the village also—or at least see and smell it.

As Naruto gears turned, Sakura (still hanging on Naruto) cursed as she stepped in another puddle. Sasuke was still fuming as watched the pair in front of him.

Then it all happened at once.

Two black clothed ninjas appeared out of the puddle of water Sakura had just stepped in.

Barbed wire swung around Kakashi as the two maneuvered around him and tore his body to pieces.

Tazuna gasped in horror as the Jounin's remains hit the ground while Sakura screamed, "Kakashi-sensei!"

The masked nin was obviously smirking, "First one."

Naruto didn't have anytime to think when one of the nin dashed towards him. His ninja instincts kicked in; Naruto shoved Sakura behind him (front of Tazuna) and pulled out a kunai.

'_They're mist ninjas…'_ Naruto thoughts as the two enemy nins, one holding one end of the barbed wire and other holding the opposite end, ran around him.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as the arrogant nin spoke, "Second one." and the spiked chains closed in on him.

Sasuke initially was in shock. Kakashi was killed in front of him, and now Naruto was going to share the same fate. '_Not if I have anything to say about it!'_

Sasuke with anger and fear fueling his movements, quickly acted; he jumped up in the air pulled out a shuriken and with perfect aim forced the wire away from the blond and into a tree. Naruto smirked, '_Nice aim.'_ and threw his kunai into the ring of Sasuke's weapon, lodging it securely into the bark.

The two mist nin were startled by the entrapment of their weapon and that was all the blond needed. With one swift kick to the head, one of the mist nin went down with a solid 'thump', but the other had gotten away from Sasuke and ran towards their client and Sakura. _'Dammit!'_ Naruto cursed.

Sakura, scared out of her mind, forced herself in front of Tazuna. _'I have to protect the bridge builder!'_

And then it was over; the nin was caught in a vice-like head lock by their very own sensei—who was just reduced to pieces only seconds ago.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke sighed in relief and looked over at Naruto only to see that the blond was looking straight at him. The Uchiha's breath caught in his breath as he watched Naruto walk towards him.

Naruto then stopped and spoke in a faint whisper, "…thank you...Sasuke."

Sasuke's name sounded foreign on the other's lips. And for the first time, the Uchiha realize that Naruto didn't say his name often. It made his heart flutter, his cheeks slightly hot and his head light.

He foolishly realized that Naruto was still standing there looking at him… with a weird look in his eyes. This was also the first time Naruto took the initiative and spoke to him first, if Sasuke was going to reply, he needed to make this one count.

Sasuke schooled his voice to sound normal, "There's no need for thanks, Naruto. It's what friends do…"

Naruto looked away, "…whatever. Thanks anyway." and walked towards Kakashi, who was tying up the two enemy nin.

Sasuke smiled, because… subtly, Naruto had acknowledged him. He was making progress.

- - - -

Sakura sighed, it had been a long day for her team. After the first encounter of enemy nin, Kakashi told the team that this mission had turned A-ranked. It would be dangerous, and if they desired, they would head back to the village and let someone else take the mission.

Sakura wanted to go back, hell she had nearly died! She was scared out of her mind! But Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun wanted to keep going, saying that a mission was a mission and every mission needed to be completed… well Sasuke said that, Naruto just nodded his head.

Then, shortly after, they were met with another nin… this one was way more serious than the first two.

His name was Momochi Zabuza, a rogue mist nin.

It hadn't been easy defeating him… Kakashi-sensei was trapped in a sphere like prison and Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun had a hell of a time trying to freeing the jounin sensei. But they did it and Kakashi took care of the rest.

Then, out of no where, there came a hunter nin. Claiming that he needed to dispose of the body, and _'poofed_', disappeared.

And to top it all off, Kakashi passed out from using his sharingan too much.

All in all, it had been an exhausting day for Sakura.

They had managed to make it to the village, and to Tazuna-san's house. Somewhere, a tad bit safer than they were out there.

The rosette looked at her teammates. Sasuke-kun wasn't even trying to hide that he was tired, hell she wasn't either! Naruto looked tired too… _ 'He's nice to snuggle with... I wonder if he'll let me…'_

Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter-in-law, ushered them into separate rooms. Sakura would be rooming with Tsunami, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun would be sleeping in Inari's room and Kakashi-sensei in Tazuna's.

Sakura sighed, and lay in her sleeping bag on the floor. It felt so good to lie down and rest. She didn't think she would ever get up again…

- - - -

Naruto, in his sleeping bag, looked up at the ceiling. He could hear Sasuke's even breaths, letting the blond know that he was asleep.

To say that he was tired was the understatement of the month. He was dead beat tired and he would definitely be in 'Sleepy-Sleepy Land' along with the raven… but his environment was different and it made him uncomfortable.

The blond turned on his side and looked at Sasuke.

The half-moon was shining though the window and landed on Sasuke (who was facing him), making his pale skin more apparent and contrasting with his blue-black hair. His long bangs had framed and covered some of his face some… and Sasuke had his fist lying in front of his face, giving a vulnerable, angelic look.

Naruto had to squish the urge to reach over and grab that hand. _'Stop it, Naruto. What are you thinking?'_

The blond's eyes started drooping, letting him know that his brain could no longer fight the sleep he longed for.

The last thing Naruto saw that night was a purely innocent Sasuke.

- - - -

Sasuke opened his eyes only to close them again. _'Ah, that's why I woke up.'_

The sun had risen, signaling the next day, and shone through the window… and landing right on him.

The raven pulled the covers over his head, but he could still see from the side.

Sasuke gasped at the sight before him.

It was a sleeping Naruto sprawled out next to him.

Sitting up, Sasuke mentally smacked himself; last night he was so tired, he had fallen asleep without saying 'Goodnight' or 'Sleep tight'! Ok, he wouldn't have said the latter, but still!

Sasuke looked at the peaceful expression on Naruto's face. All muscles were relaxed, the blond's mind at ease… it was hard to believe that this was Naruto.

'_He just looks like an ordinary kid.'_ Sasuke scooted forward and studied the blond even closer, his heart fluttering when he felt Naruto's breath on his face.

This was how Sakura found Sasuke. Really, _really_ close to Naruto.

"Um, Sasuke-kun? What are you doing?" She frowned _'I wanted to see what Naruto-kun looked like asleep! CHA!_'

Sasuke sharply looked in Sakura's direction, "Uh-it's... I wasn't-" Sasuke looked back to Naruto and yelped when blue eyes stared back at him.

Sasuke moved back and rubbed his neck, "Heh heh, O-ohayo Naruto."

"No…" the blond sat up, "I've lost my chance at a good morning the moment I opened my eyes."

Sasuke sighed while Sakura smiled gleefully. "Naruto-kun, come on! Kakashi-sensei woke up and he wants to talk to us!" she reached down and yanked the sleepy blond up and ran away with him.

Sasuke was left fuming, once again.

TBC...

**-snorts- Huh? What? You are already done? -rubs eye-**

**Ok so I have a question for you guys...**

**Who do you think the 'stranger' is at the beginning of the chapter -giggles- I know I haven't given you much to go on, but I really want to know what your thoughts are :)**

**And also thank you for reading!**

**Please review!**


	4. Image Of Perfection

**Hey everybody! Long time no see:P**

Really sorry about the late updates, but don't fear, I'm still here!

...wow, that rhymed XD

Anyways, without further ado!

**Disclaimer: Me don't own -broods-**

**Image Of Perfection.**

"_What happened?" the stranger asked, after throwing his small travel bag on the ground._

_Naruto feigned confusion, "What are you talking about?"_

_His stranger's lips were pressed into a thin line, "Naruto, your abdomen looks bandaged. What happened?"_

_Naruto clenched his fists as he looked down, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."_

_It was next month again, and Naruto had snuck out of the village. He had been so happy to see his stranger that he had forgotten to wear a jacket to hide his injury. He didn't want the man's pity or sympathy. That was the last thing he wanted. _

_Naruto watched as the man walked forward, grabbed his arm -none too gently- and yanked his shirt up. The blond didn't even try to pull his shirt back down. He'd been found out. No use hiding it now._

"_Gods…"_

_Naruto knew it wasn't pretty. He hadn't changed the bandages in two days. It had an ugly brown stain around the area of wound, and was crusted dark red in the middle. _

_Plus the fact that it smelt foul; didn't help anything either._

_The man, still in shock just sat there, openly gaping at his side and stomach._

"_Naruto…" he breathed, "How did this-? When was the last time you change this? It could get infected, you know! Then it'll really leave a scar!" his voice was scorning, but out of concern. It was different than the villager's. It felt nice._

_Naruto kept his head down and let the man pull him towards his small bag._

_Few minutes later, Naruto found himself shirtless, sitting in front of the man (his back to him), and getting his bandages changed._

_He always held his breath when his stranger looked over his shoulder, trying to see if he was wrapping it properly. Because of that, he was only half aware, that he older man was humming. Naruto could feel the vibrations. That's how close he was._

…_It was weird, but a good weird. It was something new; this was a different closeness than the one he'd been experiencing the past couple of months._

"_There." He felt the man's breath on his shoulders and neck and shuddered lightly._

_Naruto put his shirt back on, and turned around only to be face to face with the man._

'_Wow…' the hood still shadowed his features but Naruto was close enough to see the color of his eyes. They were the color of the-_

"_Naruto, are you going to tell me what happened?"_

_And Naruto did. Two chuunin had done this to him. One held him down, while the other slowly drug their katana across his skin. Why they had did it, Naruto didn't know. _

_All he remembered was his blood being everywhere and being called a monster and a murderer. That he didn't deserve to live and if it wasn't for the Hokage, he wouldn't be. _

_This was the first time this had happened. Sure he knew the villagers whispering about him, he didn't know what they were saying, but it couldn't be anything good. Why was this happening to him? Why didn't anyone love him? Like him?_

"_Monster and a murderer, huh?" Naruto smiled bitterly and the stranger just sat there, looking at him._

- - - -

"Naruto?" Sasuke panting voice cut through his thoughts, and reminding him where he was at, and how his clothes stuck to him in humid night air.

Looking over, he saw the Uchiha hunched over, trying to catch his breath.

"Don't you think its time we go back?"

The two had been 'climbing trees' all day. It had shocked the hell out of Naruto when Sakura showed no difficulty doing it, and there was no way in hell Naruto was going to be shown up by her.

"No." Naruto said before running at the tree again.

Sasuke heaved a sigh. His teammate was being ridiculous! It was obvious that Naruto was tired. Hell, even Sasuke would admit that!

Sasuke heard the metal of a kunai scrape the bark of the tree. _'I can't believe how sweaty I am. I could really use a bath.'_

The Uchiha looked at the other as he ran towards the tree again. How could the blond keep going at this pace? Sasuke knew that the blond had great stamina, but he really didn't know the limits himself.

But there was one thing Sasuke _did_ know. Naruto had this weird look in his eyes… it was hard to explain. A look that was border-line crazy, and completely on edge. Yet it was completely sane and calm all together.

Sasuke didn't like it one bit.

Naruto let his feet hit the ground again._ 'I won't allow myself to be weak, I must get stronger!'_ he kept saying, over and over in his head. That mantra alone kept himself going.

Ever since Sasuke had saved him at the beginning of the mission, Naruto felt this weird drive. It felt like it had replaced the blood in his body making it the only thing that coursed through his veins, it was what he breathed, what he ate, and it was what he saw and thought. Naruto felt that if he didn't have this -whatever _this_ was- he probably wouldn't have been able to hold Zabuza off.

The blond pushed his legs to run towards the tree, but something caught the back of his shirt.

'_Son of a-'_ "Let go." Naruto growled.

Sasuke eyes narrowed. "C'mon, that's enough. Lets go back, already!"

"You can go back, I'm staying." the blond still wasn't facing him.

Sasuke wanted to pull his hair out, "Until how long?!"

"Until I feel like I _want_ to go back!"

"I'm not going back without you, Naruto." Sasuke grabbed his shoulders and turned him around.

"Why? I don't need a babysitter!" Naruto's voice was slowly rising.

"And I'm not your babysitter!" Sasuke countered, dully noting that his arms were still touching Naruto's shoulders. "What's wrong with you?! Why are you acting like this?!" There was something very weird about Naruto's eyes. Either it was the moon's luminous lights affecting with the blue iris in Naruto's eyes or they were changing a weird shade of violet.

Naruto gritted his teeth and shrugged the Uchiha's hands off.

"I'm just tired of dealing with you and your so called 'friendliness'! It's so fake!" Naruto felt out of order. He usually had more control over his emotions. What was making his act like this?

Sasuke was pissed now, "Fake? Fake?! How can you call that fake?!"

"It's a load of crap if I ever-"

Sasuke's fist struck out before he could stop it, hitting Naruto square in the jaw.

'_Oh yeah. I felt that.'_ Naruto's head jerked back, a coppery taste filling his mouth. That didn't help his mood at all.

'_Shit!'_ Sasuke mentally cursed before Naruto's fist smashed into his face, retaliating harshly.

It went from there. Fists were rapidly thrown, kicks were made every now and then; all the while cursing at one another.

Small rustling sounds were made as they started rolling on the ground.

They would never realize how childish they looked.

Sasuke wound up on top, punching Naruto were ever he could, "You fucking insensitive asshole! I'm trying to be nice to you-" he was then cut off with a quick jab to the face. Naruto took advantage quickly and rolled on top.

"I don't care about you being nice!! Ever since I met you, you've been a huge thorn in my side!!"

Sasuke caught bother of Naruto's wrist and struggled to keep them in his grasp. "OH! So I'm a thorn, now?! I want to be your friend, Naruto! Friends look out for each other! You're gonna kill yourself if you keep up like this!"

"Why the hell would I kill myself when I'm hell bent on getting stronger?!" Naruto was still struggling to get his wrists back, "What the hell made you start caring for me?! Why do you even **care?!**"

"I care because I want to be just like you!" the words left Sasuke's mouth. Naruto's violet eyes instantly changed back to blue.

"W-what?"

After a long moment of staring at the blond, the raven closed his eyes.

"Sasuke," Naruto said his name for the second time, "look at me."

The look Naruto had on his face, bothered Sasuke greatly. The Uchiha knew, somewhat, how to predict Naruto's moods by his face. No one else could do it, but he and that made Sasuke happy.

But now, he had no clue what Naruto was thinking, so Sasuke remain quiet.

"You're lying. You _have_ to be. No one had ever and would ever want to be like me." Naruto had obviously taken Sasuke silence as a bad thing.

"I do," Sasuke looked Naruto in the eyes. "I never said it, because I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"Damn straight." Naruto moved to get off of Sasuke but those pale hands didn't let go of his wrists.

"Naruto," Sasuke sat up, the other still straddling his legs. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

**//Flashback//**

"Okaa-san!" Eight year-old Sasuke looked around frantically.

This morning, Sasuke had accompanied his mother to the market area of Konoha. It was insanely busy today; and since he stubbornly refused to hold Mikoto's hand, Sasuke had quickly loss track of her.

"Okaa-san!" The young Uchiha felt tears run down his cheek. No matter how loud he called, Sasuke felt they were all in vain. The crowd was too dense to hear a child, and he knew that if he didn't watch out, he would be trampled on.

'_Did she forget about me?!'_ his young mind coming up with ridiculous accusations.

Suddenly someone his height, grabbed his hand and firmly tugged him through the crowd. Sasuke vision, still blurred by tears, allowed him to see yellow and a bit of green.

Sasuke knew this person had to be a boy, just by the firm grip. _'What-where is he taking me?'_

But just when Sasuke was about to fight the other, he heard his mother's equally frantic voice, "Sasuke?! Sasuke, where are you?!"

The sound of her voice, alone nearly made Sasuke cry some more.

The blond pulled him out of the crowd, stopping short when they saw Mikoto. "Oh Sasuke!" she dropped her bags and embraced him tightly. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! I didn't know where to look for you!"

As Mikoto showered him with kisses, Sasuke let himself indulge in the feeling of having his mother again.

"Thank you." Mikoto said over Sasuke head.

He turned around, seeing a blond boy in gray shorts and a green shirt. His mother had obviously said her thanks when he was going to walk away.

"Please, come have dinner with us." It was strange. Okaa-san was speaking in weird voice, like she was trying to coax a fawn into coming closer.

The blond child looked over his shoulder, and Sasuke's breath caught. _'He… he-'_

"No Thank you." he then looked at Sasuke. "Don't get lost again."

Sasuke blushed as the boy walked away and his mother sighed. "Okaa-san?"

"I really wish he would have dinner with us." Mikoto stood at full height, "I just wish there was something I could do for him."

"Who was that boy?" Sasuke tugged on her shirt as they headed back home.

"His name is Naruto-kun."

'_Naruto-kun… he has such sad eyes."_

**//End Of Flashback//**

"After that, I decided that I didn't want to see you like that." Sasuke's hands were no longer around Naruto's wrists, but had slithered and wrapped around Naruto's waist, catching him in an awkward hug.

Naruto was very tense as Sasuke continued to speak; unconsciously tucking his head under Naruto's chin, "But despite that, I never saw you with you head down or wallow in you're loneliness. And I really admired that. You were strong mentally, and that's one of the things that I wanted."

"One of the things? You are so weird." Naruto whispered to himself, trying not to be embarrassed. This was the first time he had been complimented.

Sasuke smiled though, "Does that bother you."

"…no." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke's smile became bigger, and he knew he was pushing it, and pulled Naruto closer.

Naruto felt his cheeks grow hot, "Stop that." he weakly pushed Sasuke back by his shoulders.

Sasuke laughed before looking up.

The clouds moved and the moon peeked through, landing directly on the blond. Naruto's dark tanned skin seemed to glow, making him look… unearthly. Like Naruto wasn't meant for this world. Sasuke studied the blond and saw that he was blushing. Sasuke rather liked the look of pink on his cheeks.

'_Naruto is perfect.'_

Then, something caught his eyes that wasn't such. There was blood on the blond's lip and it instantly reminded him of their fight, only minutes ago.

Naruto caught the look and smirked, "Don't worry about it… you look worst than me."

Sasuke didn't seemed to hear him, and raised his hand to touch the swollen lip.

Naruto forced himself to stand impossible still. He was letting Sasuke get away with a lot of things today. He idly wondered what the raven would do next.

The blood had already clotted and caked over the cut. Sasuke moved his thumb gently over the rough area and onto the blond's surprisingly soft lips.

'_My heart is beating so fast.'_ the Uchiha thought idly.

Naruto saw the familiar glazed look. _'The same one I saw him with back in Konoha.'_ but for some reason, it didn't bother him.

…until Sasuke started leaning in. _'No. This is the one thing I can't let happen.'_ Naruto turned his head to the side, successfully snapping Sasuke out of his trance.

"Uh," Sasuke had realized what was going to happen, "Oh god, I'm so-I wasn't-I shouldn't hav-"

Naruto blushed lightly as Sasuke tried to apologize "Gods, you are sooo weird!" he pulled himself off of Sasuke and walked hastily away, fully intent on leaving him there.

- - - -

The moment Naruto walked through the door, Sakura caught him in his death grip.

"Naruto-kun! Why did you get back so late?" she saw Naruto's busted lip instantly, "AHH! What happened to your lips?! Its swollen!" she paused, looking closer, "Was it bleeding?!"

Sasuke walked through the door, sporting a black eye. "Sasuke-kun!! What happened to your eye?!"

The rosette stopped and looked at the two boys completely. Both were bruised. Both were covered in mud, almost as if they were rolling around in it.

"Were you two fighting?" she blinked.

Kakashi decided to walk in, catching the last part of the one-sided conversation. "Fighting?" the jounin saw the boys' profile. "I take it you two had a… disagreement?"

Sasuke nodded, Naruto had his head turned away stubbornly.

"Good. Dinner is ready." Kakashi walked to the dining area.

Naruto walked through his matted hair, "I'm not hung-"

Sakura cut him off and pushed him, "Oh no your not. You are eating, Naruto."

Sasuke sighed and followed after them.

- - - -

"Naruto-kun!" the kunoichi called out, the next morning. The sun hadn't even risen and the blond was already ready for training.

Naruto acknowledged her by stopping and looking over his shoulder.

"Ohayo." she gave him a cute smile. "You're going to train right? Mind if I come too?"

Naruto shook his head and started walking.

Sakura took a deep breath before walking too. It did little to calm her nerves, though.

This was the first time. The first time she was able to be alone with Naruto. Without Sasuke attached to his hip.

Sakura frowned. Last night was very weird. When the two had gotten back last night, sure there was tension at the table. With Inari saying something along the lines of 'heroes don't exist' and 'you all are going to die', it was hard for it not to be.

But Naruto and Sasuke, there was something else. If the two had fought, then… _shouldn't_ there be tension there too?

If anything, they looked like they had gotten closer.

That, or Sasuke was just sitting too close to Naruto.

Sakura shook her head, _'Whatever it is, I don't like it.'_

She looked up and saw that Naruto was still beside her. The grass crunched underneath them, letting her know just how slow they were walking. Which was weird, Naruto usually walked faster than this.

It hit her. Naruto was walking at her pace. Did this mean he enjoyed her company? Did he want to spent time with her?!

Gods! She wanted to squeal so much! Who knew something like this would make her so happy!

"Naruto," Sakura had a beautiful smile on her lips.

"Hm?"

"C-can I hold you hand?" it had been the very first time she had asked. He just _had_ to say yes.

Naruto's steps didn't falter at all, so he was unaffected by the question.

"Why?"

Sakura's faltered completely, nearly tripping over her feet. She hadn't expected Naruto to question her.

"I-I really, er, I m-mean," _'Dammit! Stop stuttering!'_ "I just want to hold your hand… its nice. It makes me feel like I'm closer to you." Sakura KNEW she was blushing. There was no possible way she wasn't.

Naruto stopped walking and Sakura did the same. The blond's deep azure eyes studied her intently. Sakura felt her hands clam up as he opened his mouth.

"You… are so weird."

Sakura's turquoise eyes widened. "W-what?"

He shook his head and held out his hand.

Sakura gasped silently as the sun chose that time to rise directly behind Naruto. Its rays outlined his figure, making his skin tone look that of caramel and his hair a brighter blond. The kunoichi was sure that if Naruto grew white wings, then he'd look like an angel.

'_Naruto is perfect.'_ she blushed cutely before taking his hand. The warmth from his hand traveled through her and gave her a cozy and content feeling.

The two continued walking.

'_You call me weird.'_ Sakura lengthened her strides, matching Naruto's perfectly. _'But I don't think I'm weird.'_

Sakura looked at him, a smile permanent on her face, _'I just really love you.'_

**TBC**

**Aw, I love that last part. For some reason, it warmed my heart.**

This chapter was pretty much a filler /:) So We'll get back on course, next chapter!

The next fic I'll be working on is "Man's Best Friend" and I know exactly what to put for it ;P

Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Realizations

**Omg, I know, it me! Holy crap!**

its been a while, eh? Sorry about the prolonged wait... its been a hell of a year and my .net has been down. Well, its still down, I'm uploading this on a library computer. --; Its been so much of a hassle!

**But I was willing to do it for you guys! You deserved it! I still can't believe how long it has been since I've updated! I feel so bad.**

**And since its been a while, I have completely lost touch with my Betas ;-; I'm so lost without Kaikouken... it would feel wrong asking her to edit it after such an extended period of time, and i don't have the time in the world to e-mail and ask --; Plus, since its been a while, I'm extremely worried that my writing style has changed and I think that'll effect the way everyone will read my fics T-T**

**So please, tell me if you think its changed or not. I may be making a big deal about this but I just need to know! So without further ado, on to the chapter!**

-

-

**Realizations**

_Naruto slowly walked away from Konoha, deep in thought_

_Naruto slowly walked away from Konoha, deep in thought._

_This month had been rather interesting._

_The two chuunin that had attacked him were dead. The one with the katana had died on a mission. He had been tortured to death and his body had been found only a mile away from Konoha. The man had gashes all over his body. No one could tell if it was from a jutsu or a weapon. Either way, it wouldn't have been a swift death._

_The one that held him down, was kill within the village. His skull was brutally bashed in. Pure in simple._

'_Could he have done all this?' Naruto shook his head. No, he couldn't have. Stranger didn't even know what the chuunin had looked like, much less killed them. Besides, his stranger was benevolent. He would never do something like that, right…? Naruto swallowed, pushing down the feeling of uneasiness. Something in his gut told him different._

_Then there was this kid. Uchiha Sasuke was his name, if Naruto remembered right. They had bumped into each other a week after he had helped the raven find his mother._

…_but he had gotten over that. He had told Sasuke to watch were he was going, and continued on his way._

_Then the next day, Naruto found that Sasuke was trying to suck up to him… if those were the right words._

_Maybe the boy didn't know how to apologize and was trying to make up for it in a weird way._

_Like trying to make conversation._

_Play with him._

_Eat with him during lunch time._

_Walking with him to school and home._

_And among other things. Naruto felt as if his privacy had been completely evaded. He didn't know how to deal with the Uchiha._

_Naruto looked up and saw the man in the distance, waving at him. He noticeably pickup his pace and walked towards the stranger._

"_Maa, you look like your getting taller, Naruto." a large hand ran through his hair, making Naruto blush at the attention. "Did you expect me to stay short forever?" Naruto replied before smiling._

_He could hear the man laugh before sitting down. Naruto did the same, and as usual, his stranger put his arm around Naruto._

_They enjoyed an companionable silence._

"_Ne," Naruto started shyly, trying to figure out how he should start._

"_Hm?" The older man seemed very happy as he ran his fingers though Naruto's hair._

"_Ano…" the child took a deep breath, "Those two chuunin. They're-"_

"_You don't have to worry about them anymore, Naruto." the man's voice cut him off. His tone was serious._

_The blond looked up, "You did kill them." he said in a shocked voice._

_The man sighed, "It really upset me. That grown men would do something like that to a child, Naruto. They didn't deserveto live."_

"_But that doesn't make it right!" Naruto stood up, glaring down at the man. He had hoped that his gentle stranger would never do such a thing. Naruto wanted the man to always smile and say kind things to him. It didn't matter what had happened to Naruto. He didn't care! He just wanted to man to be there for him! Not to favors or- or whatever this was for him!_

"_Naruto…" the man had reached up and gently cupped the child's cheek, "No matter what I say, it doesn't change the fact that they are dead. I know that and I'm sorry that what I did upset you."_

_Naruto's lip started trembling for an unknown reason._

_The man continued, "But I don't regret killing them. If I had left them alive, they would've done it again. I wouldn't be able to bear the thought that someone had hurt you, and I could've done something about it."_

_His words touched Naruto's heart, making it ache tremendously. What was this feeling? It was so hard to breathe, so hard to stop trembling… but despite this, Naruto's body felt warm._

"_Can you forgive me?" Naruto could see the man's nervous smile, his hand still holding his face._

_The blond child felt irrepressible tears overcome his vision. The man saw this and slowly tugged him into an embrace._

_This feeling. _

_Naruto had never been so torn before. The ache in his heart was wonderful._

_But it hurt so much._

- - - -

"Naruto?" Sasuke called out to the blond.

"Sasuke." Naruto answered back, looking at the Uchiha with the same indifference.

"Where are we?" Looking around, the raven could see a dense fog, Naruto being the only thing he could see. Looking back at the blond, Naruto didn't seem to have his guard up or anything in this weird place. Why were they here?

"You tell me." Naruto didn't seem to pay their surroundings any mind and walked towards Sasuke, blue eyes solely on him. The Uchiha had to resist the urge to shuffle his feet as he looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Y-you don't know either?" Sasuke mumbled to himself, suddenly feeling nervous.

The two stood there, Naruto's eyes stilled trained on Sasuke, who in turn was still looking out in the fog.

"Why are you staring at me?" Sasuke's question finally came; he rubbed his cheek, "Is there something on my face?"

"You always want my attention, right?" The blond answered easily, taking a step forward, entering Sasuke's personal space. The blond didn't seem to notice this, but Sasuke was well aware. "When we very first met as Team Seven, you said you wanted to be acknowledged by someone… that someone was me." Naruto said confidently, still looking at Sasuke.

"A-and you getting close. You don't like to get this close without a reason." Sasuke didn't deny that fact as goose bumps prickled the skin on Sasuke's arms.

"Who says I don't have a reason?" Naruto was so close now, that Sasuke could feel the warmth being emitted off of him. "But don't you always want me close?"

"What gave you that idea?" Sasuke's voice cracked a little.

"I always know what you are thinking, Sasuke." There was a certain depth in those blue eyes, that told the Uchiha that he wasn't lying. "I know the numerous things you want me to say and do."

"Wha-" Before Sasuke could even finish, Naruto brought one arm around the raven's shoulders and the other around his waist and spoke softly into his ear.

"You mean the world to me, Sasuke."

'_What?!'_ His mind exclaimed what his mouth couldn't.

"You are the only one that matters." Naruto rubbed their cheeks together. "I always want to hold you close." Naruto continued to purr, burying his face into his pale neck, making the raven clench his eyes and shudder. Sasuke never would've thought that being in Naruto's arms would have such an effect on him. He was instantly warm and a feeling of contentment surrounded him.

"Naruto," Sasuke pulled back. As nice as this was, it was all so confusing. Why was he saying all of this? Sasuke considered Naruto a friend, a very valuable friend but… friends didn't say this. This was something lovers would say to another. Sure, Naruto was very handsome but the blond never showed any signs that he even remotely cared for the Uchiha.

Naruto seemed to read his thoughts. "Isn't this what you want me to say?"

"Why are you saying this? Especially if you don't me-"

"I may not seem like I care but I really do. I'm weird like that." the blond interrupted him once again and pulled Sasuke to him.

Sasuke repeated his last question but didn't bother moving in favor of savoring the unusual warmth the blond was emitting.

"I'll tell you all this… if you admit one thing to me."

"Aren't you telling me this now?" Sasuke frowned, "You're not making any sense, Naruto."

Naruto ignored him in favor of looking into his eyes, once again.

The look Naruto had startled Sasuke. All of his facial features were soft and relaxed and seemed to glow, something Sasuke had never seen before. There wasn't a sign of anxiety, uneasiness, or anything that he had showed his guard was up. The wall that Sasuke had been trying to constantly climb was suddenly let down, letting him see, what seemed like, the real Uzumaki Naruto.

The blond's mouth opened, smiling.

"Tell me you love me."

- - - -

"Are you going to wake up anytime soon?" Naruto shook Sasuke, trying to get him to wake up. "It ten in the morning, Sasuke. Do you plan on sleeping all day?"

Sasuke opened his sable eyes, exhaustion completely evident. "Naruto?" the raven slowly sat up.

Naruto smirked at the state Sasuke was in. "So sleeping beauty is finally awake." the Uchiha suddenly leaned against Naruto, catching the blond completely by surprise. _'What the hell?'_

"…s'was a dream." Sasuke mumbled, absently nuzzling the orange shirt Naruto had donned.

Naruto really didn't want to ask what Sasuke was dreaming. Something just told him not to. "Uh, well you need to wake up." the blond gripped Sasuke's shoulders. "We're about to head out with Tazuna to the bridge."

"M'kay." Sasuke didn't budge.

Naruto heaved a sigh before shoving the Uchiha limp weight back. "I mean now." he stood. "If you're still asleep by the time I get back, I'm pouring water on you." Naruto left the room.

Sasuke blinked slowly before slumping back in his sleeping bag. The thought of having cold water splashed on him didn't sound too bad if it meant a few more minutes of sleep.

As promised, water, colder than the ocean itself, came down on him. Sasuke's yell resounded throughout the house.

- - - -

A few minutes later, Team Seven and their watch were about half way to the bridge before Kakashi stopped. "You three go on ahead, I need to ask Naruto something."

Tazuna didn't bother giving the jounin a questionable look; he just thought that it was a ninja thing. Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand stopped for a few seconds.

Kakashi nudged his head in the direction of the bridge, "Go on you two. Protect Tazuna, I'll be with you guys in a sec."

When the two were out of hearing distance, Kakashi chose to speak. "I want you to guard the house. Tsunami and Inari are there alone and I have a feeling something might go down today."

"You think they'll be used as hostages." Naruto mumbled as Kakashi nods. "Yeah, don't go into the house, just stake it out. Make sure you stay out of sight." Kakashi's voice was serious, making Naruto serious all the same.

"Yes sir." Naruto nodded.

Kakashi walked passed him and Naruto, looked back at everyone. Sasuke was the only one to glance back, and was surprised to see Naruto still there. Naruto mouthed, "Don't die."

Sasuke smirked, mouthing back, "I'll do my best." Naruto smirked, turning away and started sprinting towards the house.

He ran on the trail before deciding to cut through the forest. _'I'll stay in the trees east of the property; I'll have most of the area in my sights from that angle.'_

Naruto ran through a bush and unexpectedly ran into something very solid. "Oof!" Most of the wind was pushed out of his lungs, leaving him breathless as he landed on the ground harshly as something blunt, seemingly protruding out of the ground, hit his groin dead on, knocking the rest of the wind out of his chest.

After a few seconds of wallowing in his pain, Naruto, could see that he had practically tackled a very pretty girl, who was laying on her back, blushing underneath him.

Even through his was in pain, Naruto apologized, "Ugh, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." Naruto hissed, rolling on his side, clutching his crotch and desperately trying to get some air into his lungs.

The girl blushed even more before standing, brushing the dirt off of her pink kimono. "Its ok, I should be saying sorry, I practically kneed you in the… er, groin." she smiled with guilt, her long brown hair came down her shoulder.

Naruto stood, shakily, looking around them. From the looks of it, it seemed that she had been carrying a basket full of flowers, cause now they were littered everywhere. "Shit." Naruto stooped down, picking them up. "Really, I'm sorry about this. It's my fault." He really did feel bad. He had never in his life, ran into someone like that. It was so unlike him.

The girl gave a charming giggle, before doing the same. "You must've been in a hurry to cut across the woods like that." Naruto didn't say anything as he resumed picking up the flowers, trying not to damage them further.

"…you're a ninja." she was looking at his neck, where his hitai-ate was.

"Yeah." Naruto said off handedly, placing more of the flowers back into the basket.

"Then perhaps you can answer this question?" She asked, and resumed her task.

"…" Naruto didn't answer, knowing that she would ask anyway.

"Are you a ninja, because you like the work, or do you do it to protect your village?"

It was an odd question to ask, really. Naruto had never been asked such a thing before. When he became a ninja in Konoha, everyone automatically assumed that he did it to protect the village. It was an honorable thing to do but Naruto didn't become a ninja for this purpose. He already knew the answer to the question, even though no one had asked him before now. Naruto thought of ignoring it and continue picking up the numerous flowers, but decided he at least owed her this much. "Neither."

This shocked her. "Really? You don't have anyone that you want to protect in your village?"

"I live for myself." Naruto picked up the last flower, before dusting his hands off. "I don't have any parents, so there isn't anyone that I love or even remotely interested in."

She tilted her head, "You don't have any friends? How odd."

Naruto frowned, "I don't think it's odd at all. It's just the way I am." defending himself. Naruto thought he was anything but odd.

"That's a shame." She smiled sadly. "Everyone has an attachment to someone. Maybe you just haven't realized it yet."

"Not really." Naruto turned his back to her. "Besides, I've been told that if you truly wanted to protect someone, you have to make them strong enough to protect themselves."

When she didn't say anything else, so Naruto bid his goodbye. "Goodbye, ma'am."

"I'm not a girl."

Naruto nearly tripped over his own foot. "What?"

The brunette pulled the kimono to the side, showing a very manly chest. "I'm not a girl." she… he repeated with a smile this time. "It was very nice talking to you, ninja-san."

Naruto watched her… him go in silence.

'_This world is full of weird people._' Naruto shook his head before heading to the house.

- - - -

Sakura was plain bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored.

It had been close to five hours since they arrived, and Sakura could hardly find it in herself to stay still.

From swaying from side to side, to bouncing on her own feet, Sakura found her thoughts on the missing blond. Sasuke had been the first to ask where the blond had disappeared to, and Kakashi only said, "I needed him to be elsewhere."

Sakura had only thought, _'Then what will happen if there is an attack today?'_Naruto had protected her last time there was, what would she do now?

She looked over at Sasuke, who was looking at the surrounding area of the bridge. What was she thinking? The fight with Zabuza showed that Sasuke was also pretty capable of fighting as well… but he might not always be there to help her out when she needed it. Which pretty much only meant one thing:

She was by herself this time around.

And that thought scared the living shit out of her.

Sasuke on the other hand, wasn't worried about an attack or about Tazuna for the matter.

'_I hope Naruto will be alright._' Sasuke couldn't believe that Kakashi-sensei had sent Naruto on his own like that. Sure, Naruto was strong for a genin, but to just send him alone? It was ludicrous! Hell, Sasuke might've been more at ease if Sakura went with him.

…then again… maybe not. Sasuke could just picture the rosette hanging off of him while Naruto tried to watch the house. Or maybe even giving away their position.

Sasuke shook his head, suddenly thinking Kakashi did good by sending the blond alone _'Definitely not.'_

The Uchiha sighed before running his fingers through his hair. Maybe he was worrying too much. Naruto wouldn't do anything reckless. He was more calm and collected than Sasuke, which was one of the things that the Uchiha both admired and hated. But he knew could depend on the blond coming back unharmed.

'_He better.'_Sasuke pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

- - - -

Naruto, posted up in a tree, sneezed quietly._ 'Hope I'm not catching anything._' he sniffed, keeping his eyes trained on the house and his senses aware.

It had felt like an eternity since his little encounter with the he-she and Naruto, for some strange and odd reason, couldn't get her question out of his head.

'_I wonder what other people's reasons for becoming a ninja? I couldn't imagine the reason Kakashi decided to become a ninja… or even Iruka.'_ He scratched his head absently. His own answer was just simple. _'Becoming a ninja is just the fastest to get stronger. Plain and simple._' Naruto nodded to himself, his conviction remaining firm.

Sasuke and Sakura were a necessity when it came to getting stronger. He was a genin, a genin that had to be on a three man team. Naruto needed them to keep living if he wanted to become stronger which meant he needed to work with them.

Naruto licked his dry lips, continuing to think. If Kakashi's was right, and Zabuza did show up again, then Naruto would finish his job here and get back to the bridge. Kakashi hadn't given him further instructions. He had just said to guard the house.

Naruto couldn't see any reason why Kakashi would want Narutoto stay here. He was sure that there would only be one wave of men coming to the house. _'I mean, its only Tsunami and Inari… why send more?'_

Suddenly, Narutoheard a twig snap, five o'clock from his high position in the tree. The blond's body instantly became tense.

After waiting a couple of seconds, a group of five men, all tall and sturdy, made themselves visible. _'Bandits… ninja's would never reveal themselves like that.'_

"So this is the house, eh?"

"Yup, this shouldn't be too hard, so let's have a little fun with the woman." One of the men said and the rest laughed, obviously agreeing. Naruto scowled from his position and moved his hitai-ate up to his forehead.

"With the element of surprise, you can do nearly anything."

'_You're right._' He silently agreed with the man. _'This shouldn't be hard at all.'_

- - - -

Fog. Hard to see. Sounds all around. Scared.

Sakura stood in front of Tazuna, trying to stay calm. She could hear Kakashi's fight with Zabuza. She could even hear Sasuke's fight with Haku, from the long distance. Was it just them? Were there more enemies in this thick fog? Where? When were they going to strike? Could she protect Tazuna and herself? Would it be safer to run? Tazuna's safety was the priority, right?

Suddenly, Tazuna spoke up. "My family! What if they went after my family too?! We have to-"

Sakura _really_didn't need this guy yelling at her. "Calm down, Tazuna-san. Kakashi-sensei sent Naruto-kun to watch over the house while we're here. If anything has happened, Naruto-kun will take care of them." She mentally patted herself of the back. Keeping an even voice was really hard to do in this kind of situation.

Tazuna worries weren't eased completely, but he had some faith in the boy.

Meters away, Sasuke stared at the mirrors of ice that caged him in. _'Haku's kekkei genkai is being able to manipulate ice… an obvious weakness is fire, but one fire attack won't do.'_His plan would most likely work if Naruto was here. He knew the blond had mastered the fire ball jutsu along with Sasuke.

Suddenly, needles came at him from all directions, most of them hitting him. _'Shit!'_Sasuke gritted his teeth, trying to keep from falling on his trembling legs.

"Hm," Haku looked at him, "What will you do now? I've limited your moving with those needles, there isn't any possible way you can defeat me in this condition." he looked at the raven, raising his hands and revealing more needles. "Why do you bother to try?"

Sasukegritted his teeth as he moved his leg, a sharp pain, shooting up his thigh. "Could you blame me for wanting to live?" he smirked, pulling a needle out of his arm. _'Plus,_' Sasuke glared, _'I can't let Naruto down.'_

Haku rose a brow behind his mask, seeing the conviction and determination in the Uchiha's determine eyes. What had he thought that made him have such a look.

Elsewhere, Sakura stayed alert, hearing Kakashi's fight more than Sasuke. This worried her. _'Is he doing alright with his fight with Haku?' _she bite her lip, then suddenly heard footsteps quickly coming her way.

Tazuna quickly saw how tense the rosette was. "What is it?" he asked panicky. Sakura judged the distance from the footsteps; closed her eyes and lashed out, her kunai posed to kill.

The sound of metal clashed.

Sakura's eyes widened, seeing her angel's blue eyes. "Naruto!" She dropped her kunai and embraced him. Tazuna quickly stepped forward, "Is my family alright?!"

Naruto nodded, moving away from Sakura and picking up her kunai. "Keep you eyes open next time and don't drop your kunai, Sakura." he gave her a stern look before looking around in the fog. "I need a status."

The rosette nodded, "Kakashi-sensei is fighting Zabuza eleven o'clock from my position and Sasuke is fighting someone named Hakuat five o'clock. He was the hunter-nin that took Zabuza away last time." she pointed in the direction on Kakashi. "Sensei seemed to be at a stand still with the missing nin but Sasuke," she pointed in another direction, "I don't know what is going on with Sasuke."

Tazuna watched to two children, amazed at the maturity and calmness they had. The way continued to discuss things in an adult manner, making him feel as if they were older than they looked. _'Its almost as if they are twenty.'_

Naruto nodded, "Alright," he looking in Sasuke's direction. "You're doing a good job here, so I want you to stay and continue to protect Tazuna. I'm going to Sasuke." Naruto said, referring to the way she attacked. Sakura nodded, pulling her kunaiinto a defensive position. "Please be careful." she said.

Naruto stared at her, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. It felt odd… so odd, that he couldn't say anything but turn and run away, heading for Sasuke.

Naruto had never run through fog before, let alone, blindly. The enemy was at an advantage in this situation and he could get struck down any minute. He didn't have any experience in fighting blindly like this, so he doubt Sasuke was doing well.

Then, answering his own thoughts, he heard the Uchiha cry out in obvious pain.

'_He better be alright._' Naruto gritted his teeth, pushing his feet harder, wanting to get to Sasuke as fast as possible and nearly came smack dab into an ice-like wall. _'What the hell?'_ he touched it.

He then heard voices.

"I've always been told that ninja's were tools. If a ninja leaves his home village and becomes a rogue, it means that they don't want to be tools anymore. Is that so wrong?" A voice, which could belong to either a woman or a man, said.

"It is wrong!" Sasuke's defiant voice shouted back, "It's ok to not want to be a tool anymore! Its ok to want to leave your home village, but its never alright to become a rogue! Doing that means betraying everyone's hopes, loyalty and trust! Something that is more precious than anything! I couldn't bare to be hated by the ones I love!"

"Then perhaps you can tell me why you became a ninja." The voice was curious. "Did you want to become a tool? Did you do it because you enjoy killing? Please enlighten me."

"You would never know those answer because you weren't born in a ninja village." Sasukesaid calmly. "I became a ninja to protect the village I live in and to protect its people, my family and my friends. Is that so wrong?"

"And all I want to do is protect Zabuza by becoming his tool. He is my home, he is more precious than anything." The voice had an odd seriousness to it, sounding very deadly. "And I'll do anything to protect something precious to me. Will you?" there was the sound of something cutting through the air and Sasuke cried out again.

'_That's enough._' Naruto performed the necessary hand signs, inhaling, and shooting out a huge fireball.

The ice melted in mere seconds, clearing the way for Naruto to see the condition Sasuke was in. Something unknown stirred within him, seeing the various needles sticking out of the raven's pale skin and the blood trickling out. Sasuke was hurt.

The Uchiha had never been so happy to see Naruto in his life. He had even taken down one of Haku's mirrors! Sasuke smirked, looking at the masked nin. Haku was going down.

"Sasuke! You alright?" Naruto jogged closer, seeing Sasuke nod confidently. "I'm fine, what took you so long?"

"I was detained." Naruto smirked, "Lets dispose of this guy. I want to get home." he said arrogantly.

The masked nin drew more needles, and it was then that Naruto noticed how the ice reflected the nin's image, making it extremely difficult to find which one was real. Sasuke muttered, "What's the plan?"

Naruto shrugged, "Finding out the real one, of course. I'll distract him while you find him."

"Why me?" Sasuke asked, his back to the blond. "Because you've been here longer and you'll have more of an idea how he moves. Plus, he focus all of his attention on me. You're injured enough." Naruto said, matter a fact.

"Quit with the whispering!" Haku yelled, throwing needles. They seemed to come from all directions, and Naruto half wondered if the nin was even moving between mirrors. Needles pinned into his shoulders and some into Sasuke's leg. _'Shit that hurts!_' Naruto gritted his teeth. The pain was bearable though, he thought, and quickly dashed for the space between the mirrors.

The raven saw this as his opportunity, looking around him. Nothing seemed to move the first time, as more needles flew and pierced Naruto's skin. The Uchiha gritted his teeth, willing himself to stay focused. Naruto looked back at him, before running for the space again. Sasuke took in everything around him, looking for any movement. Again, nothing.

Naruto cried out this time, more needles sinking into his body. _'Dammit, dammit.'_Sasuke cursed himself, as Naruto shook off the pain and ran again. He was practically standing by as Naruto was getting hurt. He could do something about this! He could stop Haku and end Naruto's pain. _'FIND HIM DAMMIT!!'_Sasuke growled.

Time suddenly slowed down. Naruto's steps grew slower and then, in the corner of his eye, something moved. His eyes could see Haku glance at Naruto, and jump from the mirror, raising his hand, needles between each knuckle.

_'Now!'_Sasuke's hand formed the hand signs for a fire ball, and blowing it out, heading towards Haku.

But the nin was still too fast, and it grazed his ankle. Haku stopped his attack on Naruto momentarily and went to another mirror before throwing needles at both of them.

Naruto noticed the change in pace immediately. The needles hadn't came as fast as they had the times before. He glanced back, seeing the look of triumph on the Uchiha's face. Naruto smirked, and dashed forward.

Sasuke moved his hands, forming the signs, just as Haku leaped from the mirror. The fire ball was more precise this time, but Haku was still too fast and moved just letting it graze the clothes around the legs.

Naruto saw this, thinking. _'Getting better and better.'_the pain was nothing now. He could easily bare it. All he wanted to see was Sasuke roasting the nin to a crisp. He almost chuckled at the thought but was stopped short when he looked at Sasuke's eyes. They were red, with two black commas in the irises. _'Sasuke's kekkei genkai.'_he thought absently, a little astonished. He knew that one day, Sasuke would possess the sharingan, but he would've never thought he would've had it today. In battle, no less. Naruto's thoughts were cut short as more needles sunk into his skin, a huge flare of pain, shooting through his body.

Sasuke gasped at the immense pain he was now in. The needles before never seemed to cause this much pain. It made seemed like Haku was just merely playing with them and now that they were progressing, he was getting serious. _'This next one has to count.'_

Haku cursed to himself, seeing the Uchiha's eyes. _'It seems his kekkei genkai has awakened. This is quite the predicament.'_he knew that he couldn't prolong this any longer. He needed to end this and get back to Zabuza as quickly as possible. Sasuke's new sharingan could help him see his movements, but his body wasn't fast enough to react and attack along with it.

The brunette wouldn't have to move if it wasn't for the blond, who was constantly trying to make an escape. The same blond that he has seen in the forest earlier today. He had known that he was apart of the group that was against Zabuza and yet he still talked to the genin as if he wasn't so. The blond ninja that had claimed to not have a precious person and only lived for himself. It was strange for a child, to say such things. Didn't children cling to the people around them? Making everyone their precious person?

Haku frowned from behind the mask. It had to be a lie. A front to act tough. He moved, both hands full of needles, aiming to kill the blond. _'This comrade won't get to him in time.'_

Sasuke was the only one who had seen the change in his enemy, seeing the killer intent. Naruto kneeling on the ground a ways away from him, was gasping in pain with his eyes clenched shut. He hadn't noticed the change in Haku's demeanor. His eyes could still see Haku's movements. He could see how their enemy had his sights set on Naruto, how he raised both hands full of needles and deftly threw them.

Sasuke tried to run to the blond, but Haku's weapons were too fast and made it to Naruto before he could. His sharingan seemed to copy the image of everything. The way the needles flew and sunk into the tender skin of his neck, chest and lower abdomen. His eyes memorized the way Naruto's body jerked, how his mouth flew open in a silent scream and how full of pain those blue eyes were.

Sasuke watched in horror as Naruto's body fell to the ground, face first in a thump, the needles sticking out in his chest, sinking all the way in. "NARUTO!!"

Naruto watched, dazed, as Sasuke slowly ran towards him, kneeling down and started yelling… something. Everything was getting blurry... the only thing he could see was the Uchiha's face. Why couldn't he hear what Sasuke was saying? Why couldn't he feel the way Sasuke held him? Why couldn't he feel Sasuke's warmth? All the blond seemed to be aware of was the immense pain he was in.

Naruto's eyes, lidded, looked at the frantic/crazed way Sasuke's red eyes looked. What was happening? The blond looked at Sasuke lips, reading them. _'He's telling me to "breath"?'_

Was he not breathing? Naruto numbly tried to inhale, but found that he… forgot how to. How the hell could he forget something like that? He tried to say Sasuke's name, he tried to tell Sasuke to calm down, but none of it seemed to come out.

_'Am I… dying?'_Naruto thought, the words sinking in. That was it, was it? Sasuke was telling him to breath.. and he forgot how to, and he couldn't talk… he was dying. _'I'm dying.'_

Sasuke was shaking him now, his face looked even more frantic, and tears were pooling in the corners of his eyes. _'I'm dying.'_he thought again, feeling the numbness of it all. The fact that he was accepting it, bothering him greatly. He didn't want to die. Narutostill had so much he had to do, so much he had to livefor. What could he do that would let him survive? Was there anything he _could_do? Naruto continued to look at Sasuke, he was sure that he looked dead by now. He had never seen the Uchiha like this. He had lost all composure when Haku had struck Naruto down.

Naruto had hated it that the Uchiha spouted that friendship stuff as if he cared… but now that he actually seen Sasuke, showing grief for his fallen, it made Narutosee him in a new light. His heartbeat, which was slowing, gave two quick beats at the thought; it was enought to send emotions such as anxiousness, regret, and hopefulness throughout him. Naruto was happy to have discovered this, but was sadly amused that he was dying.

He never had anyone to show him kindness the way Sasuke had. Well, he was sure people were kind to him, but since he grew up alone, and couldn't look for kindness underneath everything… he needed to hear and see it. He needed proof rather than to look for it. _'How odd.'_ he thought, _'In my time of dying, I'm just finding this out now.'_

Sasuke's forehead was resting against his, he was sobbing, tears running off of Naruto's hitai-ate and onto his face. Naruto tried to breath again. He wanted to tell Sasuke a mixture of _'I'm sorry.'_ and 'Don't cry' and that _'everything will be alright'_. But how could he say that? He was dying. He didn't want to die. _'I don't want to die.'_ he thought again.

**"I refuse to die like this."**Naruto eyes closed. **"Get your fucking ass up! I refuse to die!"**

There was a strange sensation. Something that was cooling his body. So cold that it seemed to scald him… or maybe it was hot? Was it hot? Did it really matter?

The pain was back suddenly, but then vanashed. He felt a rush of air fill his lungs and the he could suddenly feel Sasuke's warmth, the wetness of his tears running off of his face, his trembling arms --everything! What a wonderful feeling it was!

**"Out threat."** A voice said.. Or was it Naruto's own thoughts? **"Kill him. Stand up, and kill this pest! NOW!"**

It wasn't that the voice was charismatic or anything, but Naruto suddenly felt compelled to do so. That man had nearly killed him.

**"That man nearly kill us."**

Naruto wasn't going to let him get another chance to do it again.

**"Don't let him get another chance to do so again!"**

Naruto slowly stood, ignoring the shocked look Sasuke was giving him and focusing on the needles protruding out of the Uchiha's pale skin. Naruto wasn't going to let him harm Sasuke again.

**_"Don't let him hurt Sasuke."_**

And with that last thought (or was it a thought?), the needles slowly slid out of his skin and falling to the ground, the blond felt an immense amount of chakra burst from his body. Letting the red chakra fly out and hit the iced mirrors, Naruto felt invisible, he felt powerful, he felt blood lust, he felt furious and there was no way his enemy would get away.

- - - -

Kakashi, meters away from his students, let chakra flow into his hands as his hounds held Zabuza in place. His control nearly slipped when Kyuubi's chakra, the same it had been thirteen years ago, burst to life in the distance, flaring angrily and crackled in the air menacingly.

_'Naruto!'_ Kakashi's eyes widen, willing himself to hurry with the jutsu and so he could get to the blond. _'How is it possible? Did the seal break?'_

- - - -

All the ice mirrors had been shattered as Naruto's fist made impact with Haku's face, smashing the mask and sending him flying into the distance.

Naruto's breath came out in angry huffs as Sasuke shakily watched. "Naruto?!" he breathed. How could it be possible? Naruto was nearly dead just a few seconds ago. How had he just stand and take out Haku the way he had?! How did all of his wounds heal? Sasuke gritted his teeth, willing himself to stand and move forward.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder, his eyes red with anger, fangs shown, nails grown into claws, hair more feral and canine's formed into fangs. Sasuke's sharingan was still taking in every movement, every breath and the image of Naruto. Was… was this really Naruto?

- - - -

Kakashi's jutsu was finished as he charged forward, his enemy's eyes widened in horror.

'_This is the end, Zabuza.'_ Kakashi struck.

- - - -

Haku, just about to accept his fate, suddenly noticed the danger Zabuza was in. With his last bit of chakra, he moved his hands to sign for a teleportation jutsu. _'I have to save Zabuza!_'Then, just when he was about to teleport, tanned hands caught him on the last seal, fumbling his efforts _'No!'_

- - - -

Kakashi's Chidori sunk into the nin's chest, destroying his heart and left lung, making blood splatter everywhere.

- - - -

Naruto's hand caught Haku by the neck, lifting him up into the air. _'I've seen him before.'_ he thought, his mind making a half attempt to find out where. Did it matter? Why was he actually thinking about this? It didn't matter at all. This nin had to be eleminated.

**"Yes... thats it! Kill him!"** A voice demanded and Naruto grinned widely, his fangs gleaming. _'Thats right. I must kill him. He won't hurt Sasuke ever again.'_

Sasuke watched in horror as the blond's hand tightened, breaking the neck it was holding, the body going limp afterward. Haku's eyes rolled back, his mouth open as Naruto threw his body down as if he was nothing.

And to Sasuke's complete horror, Naruto's shoulders started to shake. _'He's laughing?'_

Through Naruto's little fits of giggles, he heard-

**"Hmm, you're not as bad as I thought you'd be. You killed him even though he looked familiar… interesting. Maybe we can make a deal together. It would be very amusing."**

Then, the power that he suddenly had, slowly faded, making him feel drained. A weird sense of emptiness settled in.

**"I look forward to out next,"** the voice paused, seemingly looking for the right words. **"interaction."**

Naruto groaned, suddenly feeling sick. His stomach churned as he looked at Sasuke, who still had the look of shock on his face. "Sas…" was all he could manage before passing out.

- - - -

It was two days later, and Sasuke was sitting beside Naruto's futon, waiting for the blond to wake. He hadn't said a word about what had happened with the fight with Haku. He didn't say how feral Naruto's appearance had seemed or how he had killed Haku, although he was sure Kakashi knew something. He remembered how Kakashi had reacted, seeing how Naruto was unharmed while Sasuke was. It was as if he was expecting something far more worst than that.

Talking about the fight just seemed… wrong. Like Sasuke himself had seen something personal… like looking into Naruto's diary or something. Sasuke rose his hand, running a hand through his hair. The small punctures from Haku's needles left him extremely tender, but it was something that he could bare.

_'Naruto's eyes… looked so dead. I really thought I had lost him.'_ Sasuke sighed, thanking to who ever was responsible for saving the blond. _'I don't know what I would've done if I-'_ he stopped his thoughts, remembering how Naruto tried to breath, tried to talk, but only ending up moving his lips silently, a sick gurgling sound escaping his lips.

Sasuke clenched his teeth. _'I don't ever want to see him like that again.'_ Those images had plague him so much in his sleep. He would cry out to Naruto and shake him, but Naruto just wouldn't respond. Sasuke had spent two sleepless nights, just sitting next to the blond, listening to his breathing, a small reminder that Narutowas alright, he was alive.

When Naruto had collapsed, Sasuke himself felt that he had died. The one person he had strived to chase just wasn't moving anymore. Sasuke had never felt so helpless in his life.

When you spend two long night awake, one does a lot of thinking and Sasuke came to one conclusion. _'I love Naruto.'_

When those thoughts went through his head, everything became so clear. It was like being under water and coming up for your first breath. Everything made sense now. Why he chased after the blond, why he wanted his recognition, why nothing else mattered except him, why Naruto was important, why Sasuke tried to kiss him that night in the forest and why he sometimes looked at Naruto in a different way. Sasuke had thought all of this, even though he had watched Naruto kill Haku with his bare hands.

_'When Naruto… changed,'_ Sasuke thought delicately. _'He was still Naruto.'_ His sharingan remembered the way Naruto had looked at him, seeing a sense of protectiveness and possessiveness. His red eyes had still acknowledged Sasuke. But the Uchiha still didn't know what or how it had happened. Was it being on the brink of death, made something inside of Naruto awaken? A kekkei genkai? What was it?

Then, Naruto's hand twitched, slowly forming a fist. Sasuke gasped, taking the hand and looking at Naruto's face. The blond's eyes were moving underneath his lids and slowly but surely, they opened.

Sasuke had never been so happy to see those beautiful blue eyes. "Naruto." he said his name, a sense of relief coming over him. The blond's hands clenched around Sasuke's as he looked at his teammate. "Sasuke?" Naruto muttered, his voice thick. "Where…?"

"We're still at Tazuna's house." Sasuke smiled, "You've been out for two days. I was starting to worry."

_'Out?'_ he thought, the last few days flashed in his mind. "Oh." Naruto's hand relaxed, "Is everyone alright?"

Sasuke nodded as the blond slowly sat up, his body was unbelieveably stiff and he had a slight head ache; another sign that he had been asleep for a while. Naruto never liked to sleep for an extended amount of time.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you want to bathe?" Sasuke questioned. Naruto shook his head, moving to stand, but his feet gave out on him, suddenly.

Sasuke was there to catch him and held the blond, steadily in his arms. Naruto glanced up, at the raven, remembering Sasuke's frantic face. With his teammates help, Naruto stood, their eye contact hadn't been broken. "You," Naruto started, lowering his eyes. "cried for me." his voice was lower, "No one has ever cried for me."

Sasuke felt his heart twist at the vulnerable look Naruto had, "You're someone precious. Of course I would cry if you were about to die… I-" he stopped, those three words just about to fall off of his lips. Naruto looked back up, making eye contact.

They stared at each other for a long while before Naruto spoke. "You, what?"

Sasuke swallowed dryly. Should he tell Naruto? Would those words push the blond away? Or maybe it would bring them closer? Sasuke didn't expect Naruto to return his feelings, but he just wanted Naruto to know.

"I just want you to know," Sasuke paused, still looking at Naruto. "that I'm in love you."

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction.

"You don't have to say anything!" Sasuke blurted out, tightening his hold on the blond. "I just wanted to let you know that."

"Sasuke…" was all that Naruto managed to say. This had really came out of left field. Sure, Sasuke had tried to kiss him the night before the fight, but he would've never expect the Uchiha to come right out and say he loved Naruto! He had known that there was a slight possibility that Sasuke was attracted to him, but this was all moving a little fast. Naruto was just trying to get use to thinking of the raven as a friend. Someone important.

For something to make an impression on him, Naruto did need to see, hear and feel it. _'And I do.'_ he felt slightly flushed. He had heard it numerous of times from Sasuke that he was considered a friend. But now that he saw the tears that Sasuke had shed, he could feel it as the raven held him up and from his words. _'It… feels weird… but not bad.'_

It felt nice to know that someone actually emotionally cared. Naruto didn't know whether or not that he felt the same way Sasuke had, but that just didn't matter at the moment. _'Someone cares.'_

Sasuke continued, wanting the blond to understand. "Its not some sort of sacrifice that I make. I'm not saying it to make you change the way you feel about me, its not even to make you love me. I just wanted to let you know.. that if something happens to you, I'll be sad. I'll be depressed. I'll even cry." those sable eyes had a serious genuine look in them. "And I'll do anything to protect you."

The weakness Naruto felt must've been making him feel emotional, because all of what Sasuke was saying seemed to be hitting him hard… but not enough to make him cry. Was this really happening?

"No one has ever told me that they loved me." Naruto frowned to himself. "I… don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do anything." Sasuke reminded quickly.

"So, you'd rather tell me and not pursue any kind of relationship?" Naruto's voice was low as he started balancing on his own. It irritated him in a strange way to hear that. "Somehow I don't believe you."

"Wha?" Sasuke's eye brows shot up, "Its not that I wouldn't want to pursue any kind of relationship, its just that I don't want to make you uncomfortable!"

Naruto then crossed his arms, looking like his old self, "Ok then, now what?"

"Huh?" Sasuke said intelligently. Naruto was suddenly impatient. "What are you going to do now that you've told me?" The question made Sasuke really think. If he didn't want a relationship with Naruto, then why would he tell him? What would've been the purpose?

Naruto clenched his eyes. After all that happened, he had found that Sasuke was important to him. He had shown him kindness despite Naruto's bitterness and arrogance, he had cried for him in his time of dying, he had even grown to love Naruto. The next words came out of his mouth, without a second thought. "You've already told me that I was important to you, but I'm more of the type to say "when I see it, I'll believe it" and…"

Sasuke waited patiently, wanting to hear Naruto's next words, but knew that he shouldn't rush the blond.

Naruto unclenched his eyes, but still held a cautious look. "If you try again… I would let you." was all Naruto's mouth would allow him to say.

Sasuke didn't catch it immediately. What the hell was Naruto trying to say? What had he tried before that Naruto stopped him?

Then, a small light went off. The night, when Naruto had looked so irresistible, that he had tried to kiss him and Naruto had moved away. Was that what he had meant? Sasuke looked at Naruto, who looked embarrassed. _'This is almost like a dream.' _"A-are you saying-?" he stopped unable to finish.

There was a small blush on Naruto's cheeks as he nodded.

Sasuke inhaled sharply, stepping forward almost eagerly, slowly reaching for the blond. Naruto stood there looking at him with a willing but slightly guarded look and it was then that Sasuke realized how nervous he was. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that Naruto would actually say 'yes' when it came to kissing… not that Naruto said it in those words, but still!

The blond had always around his height, so he didn't have to tilt his head up or down in the matter, only to the side, for more of an angle. Sasuke held his breath as he leaned forward, his arms already coming around Naruto's waist.

Naruto squashed the urge to fidget. This was the closest Naruto had ever been with anyone… but if it was anyone else, the blond would've pushed them away immediately. _'Only Sasuke.'_ He thought, closing his eyes.

Just as Sasuke's lips gently grazed Naruto's, the door opened wide, revealing their sensei holding a tray for food. Kakashi's visible eye popped open, nearly dropping the food at the sight of his students.

Both boys separated instantly, Naruto looking away from Kakashi while Sasuke just plain stared in shock at his sensei, stuttering out meaningless excuses.

It was moments later that Kakashi spoke, "Um, sorry... uh, I should've knocked." the man stepped back and closed the door, knocking once and came back inside, acting as if nothing had happened. "Oh, Naruto, you're awake! Everyone was starting to worry!" The jounin's eye was curved happily, but if you looked closely, you could see a tinge of pink on the bridge of his mask. "I brought some food, are you hungry?"

Naruto slumped down to his futon, suddenly extremely tired. _'I've-_

Sasuke rubbed his red face, _'-never-'_

_' '-been so embarrassed in my life.' '_

TBC

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**So i know i don't deseve to ask you this... but please review!**


	6. Changes

**Oh. My. God.**

-Points at text- Lookie, lookie! Another chapter! :)

**I tried to get this out before my b-day (Nov. 18) but I just couldn't manage it -_-; Oh well, the chapter is here, ENJOY**

**-**

**Changes**

**-**

This morning, just wasn't Naruto's morning.

He had awoken, feeling an odd ache throughout his whole body, making it tremendously hard to get out of bed.

A hot shower made it worst, but when he switched it to cold, it seemed to soothe him.

Then, five minutes out of the shower, the ache was back. It was strange. It wasn't an ache like he had trained hard yesterday, because he hadn't, it was more on the inside, working from his bones and pulsing to his muscles and constantly receding back.

Now, slowly walking down the street, Naruto felt far worst. Was this what it felt like to be sick? Naruto tentatively reached up, the muscles in his arms protested the movement, as he massaged his temple. _'What is going on?'_

In the distance, Naruto could hear Sasuke's familiar foot steps, paced evenly and gradually getting closer. Naruto thankfully stopped.

"Ohayo." Sasuke said, moving in front of him, smiling.

Naruto tried to act natural. "Ohayo." he mumbled, closing his eyes as Sasuke kissed him. The Uchiha eagerly parted his lips, just as Naruto did the same, enjoying their new way of kissing.

It was then that the ache flared into mind numbing pain, surprising Naruto as he quickly pulled away and gasped.

A small red light went off in Sasuke's head. "Naruto?" he watched the blond grit his teeth, his arms wrapped around himself. "Is everything alright?" Sasuke's hands gently gripped Naruto's shoulder, his face laced with worry. What just happened? What was going on?

After a few more deep breaths, Naruto answered, standing straight. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?!" Sasuke accidentally yelled, seeing how pale Naruto's skin suddenly was. "You don't look like you'll be fine!"

Naruto resumed his slow walk, mentally willing his mind to ignore the pain. Why was this hurting so much? What was actually going on?

Sasuke was then next to him, moving Naruto's arm to rest across his shoulders, taking Naruto's weight. Naruto had a lot of pride, and Sasuke knew it would only hurt the blond more to make him go home. But he was sure that it would be different if their sensei told him.

If Kakashi didn't see the condition Naruto was in, and not make him go home, Sasuke would then do it himself.

Just around the corner from the bridge, Sasuke allowed Naruto to move away from him, and hobble to their meeting spot. As always, Sakura ran up to Naruto, beaming happily and hugged the blond. Sasuke was the only one to see Naruto wince.

And it was only when Sakura looked up, that she gasped. "Oh my god, Naruto-kun?! Are you alright?!" She rose her hand, touching the blond's pale face. "You're burning up!"

Naruto slapped her hand away, "I'm fine. I just need to sit down." he moved away, stumbling towards the tree, and sitting underneath it, his bangs covering his eyes. His teammates moved closer, Sasuke remaining silent as Sakura knelt down. "Naruto-kun, if you keep going on like this, you'll never get better! You need to rest! Please go home!" When Naruto didn't say anything, she gave Sasuke a pleading look. "Sasuke, tell him!"

Said boy frowned, "I.. I can't tell him what to do Sakura. Only Kakashi-sensei can." he was hinting for her to leave the blond alone and let the jounin handle it.

Sakura caught it, but didn't seem to care. "But he's burning up! If his temperature gets any higher, he'll need to go to the hospital! Plus, you don't know how long it'll take for our baka-sensei to get here!!"

Kakashi took that time to POOF into the scene, smiling. His team didn't even acknowledge that he was even early. _'Five minutes earlier than the time I told them to be here.'_Kakashi frowned. And here he was expecting an outrageous response from them. He was actually looking forward to it.

Sasuke glanced up at him before averting his eyes to Naruto, wanting the jounin to look at the blond. Kakashi did just that and his eye brows automatically knitted together. Naruto's natural color was way off, his left arm seemed to be clenching his stomach, and his skin had a sheen of wet. Kakashi moved next to Naruto, kneeling down just like Sakura. "…you don't look so well, kid." he pulled the glove off on one hand and felt the blond's forehead. "Are you aware that you're running a fever?" he asked, knowing from experience that even he couldn't comprehend the rise in his own body temp.

When Naruto didn't answer, Sakura shrilled out. "See, even Kakashi-sensei says you have a temperature! You need to go home!"

"Sakura, you're wasting you're breath." Kakashi said, calmly, moving his hand underneath Naruto's chin, lifting it.

Naruto's teammates gasped, seeing that his blue eyes were closed, his mouth slightly jarred, quiet pants quickly blew past his lips. "He fainted." Kakashi supplied, moving to pick him up like the child he was.

The jounin situated Naruto's head so that it was resting underneath his chin, he then deftly reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. "Sakura, I want you to go to the store and get some medication for fevers and maybe even cold sweats. Sasuke and I are going to take him home and I want you to meet us there."

She nodded and quickly ran off, Kakashi then turned to Sasuke. "Do you want to lead the way? I know what area Naruto lives in, but I don't know the exact location." Sasuke, his eyes glued to Naruto's face, nodded.

- - - -

Naruto felt a weird sensation of floating, everything feeling numb around him. He could feel a slight wind on his face, he could hear mumbling around him, but Naruto just couldn't quite make out the words.

What was going on? Naruto tried to move his finger, feeling nothing. Maybe everything wasn't numb… maybe Naruto was the one that couldn't feel anything.

**"I figured this would happen."**

Naruto furrowed his brow, his eyes still closed. It was that voice again.

**"You've never been sick before, so it should've known that you wouldn't recognize you had a fever."** the voice seemed to be slightly disappointed. The blond tried to move his mouth, wanting to talk, but found that just like his hand, he couldn't move his lips.

**"But I guess it can't be avoided. Don't move around so much. I'm giving you power… so just sit back, relax and enjoy. No pain, no game."**

_'Giving me power?!'_Naruto thought outrageously. More like someone _with_ power had beaten the living shit out of him!!

Suddenly, Naruto could understand the voices around him.

"This is a small place… I guess its alright for a teenager to live here. Its pretty tidy too." he could hear Kakashi.

Sasuke was the one to speak next. "I can't tell if Naruto is about to come to… his hand has been moving a lot and so has his mouth."

Well at least Naruto knew where he was and that he could move. Kakashi then spoke again, "I'm going to go check on the soup. Sakura should be back any minute now." The sound of Kakashi's foot steps echoes on his wooden floor, disappearing into another room. Then, a cool damp cloth pressed against his forehead. _'Ah, that feels good.'_ he thought, opening his eyes.

The first person he saw was Sasuke, sitting on the side of the bed, looking worried. Those sable eyes instantly lit up, seeing that he was awake. "Naruto," he breathed, smiling. "how do you feel?"

The blond's sarcasm reared its ugly head. "Like a house… no, a mansion fell directly on top of me," he huffed out, "but other than that I feel fine."

Sasuke chuckled before glanced at the door and leaning forward, kissing Naruto's cheek. "You had me worried. I never known you to get sick."

Naruto mentally reviewed what the voice had said. This was a process to gain power. But how? He knew he couldn't very well tell Sasuke that he wasn't sick without getting a weird look, so he just played along. "This is my first time getting sick… as far as I can remember." Naruto averted his eyes. The window by his bed was open, letting him feeling the cool breeze that blew in. "I live alone… I have to take care of myself and make sure I eat healthy so things like this won't happen."

Sasuke watched Naruto for a while before Kakashi came back into the room. "Oh, you're awake." He had a bowl of soup. "You had the ingredients to make chicken noodle soup, so I whipped it up real quick. I wanted you to eat before you take some medicine."

The sound of the front door shutting resounded throughout the small house. "And there's the medicine," Kakashi perked, "In here Sakura-chan!"

Naruto heard Sakura hesitant foot steps and a while later, she appeared in the doorway, still looking around and then smiled happily, seeing that the blond was awake. "You're awake!" She hurried to the bed, carrying a small plastic bag. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto muttered out, "I've been better."

Sakura gave him a sympathetic look, taking a few things out of the bag as she sat down on the bed too, her back to Sasuke. "I got you some medicine. Some to help you're fever and a few others to help you get to sleep and such. You'll want to eat before taking them though." Sakura look at the steaming bowl Kakashi had before looking back at the blond. "Do you want me to feed you?"

Behind her, Naruto could see Sasuke grit his teeth. Kakashi could also see his reaction. _'He's slipping.'_Naruto thought, stiffly sitting up. "I'm fine. I can feed myself."

She pouted, of course. "You sure? Its no problem."

"He said he was fine!" Sasuke snapped, startling everyone in the room and received weird looks. He blushed now, "I just don't want you to put any unnecessary stress on him." he nervously took the bowl from Kakashi.

_'Wow…'_Naruto thought, absently taking the bowl. _'I sure didn't expect that.'_ Well, the blond _had_been expecting something like this to happen, but just not so soon. Naruto's thoughts wavered off as he looked down at the steaming bowl of chicken soup. It didn't look poisonous like he suspected, but actually looked tasty. He half wondered if Kakashi really cooked it. "…this looks good."

"Of course it is," Kakashi said, indignant. "I made it." he huffed, trying to relieve some of the tension in the room.

And it seemed to work, there was a small comfortable silence as Naruto quietly ate his soup. Sakura was smiling happily to herself, seeing that Naruto's tanned color was slowly coming back.

Sasuke just sat there, thinking about how much of an idiot he was. _'How could I just explode like that!?'_he glanced up, looking at Naruto and Sakura, _'I mean, its already bad that Kakashi-sensei saw our first kiss!'_ he thought, wanting to rub his face. _'I don't need to give Sakura any reason to suspect...'_

"Well," Kakashi spoke up again. "there is something that I wanted to bring to you're attention." he said, speaking to his team in general.

His students perked up, waiting.

"The Chuunin Exams are being hosted in Konoha this year." Kakashi said, leaning against the wall. "All three of you have done extremely well, when our mission turned A-rank, and I was considering…" he trailed off.

Sakura's eyes went wide, "You want us to participate in the exams!?"

Sasuke's mimicked her's, "Do you really think we could pass? I mean, we haven't even been a genin for three months."

Kakashi nodded, "You three work well with each other, and team work is extremely important in the first part of the exams… I think you have a good shot."

Naruto smirked. _'Chuunin Exams, eh?'_

"But!" Kakashi chirped, "In order to register for the exams, you need three teammates.. And Naruto is currently sick and the nominations will be next week."

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at the blond, not knowing how the blond will react. Naruto had a determine look, "I will be better by then."

"Yes, but only if you'll rest." Kakashi held his finger up. "The more you rest, the more better you'll get… so no moving around."

The blond scowled, and went back to his soup. Sakura beamed at the blond, "And I'll come by everyday until you're better! I can cook you dinner every night, wouldn't that be great?"

"I already volunteered." Sasuke interrupted, catching Naruto's look that said, _'You did?'_the Uchiha quickly added, "Plus, its better that I take care of him, since we're both boys."

Sakura was about to protest when Kakashi spoke again, "Yes, it would be better for a male to take care of Naruto better than a female." he smiled sadly at Sakura, "I think it would help Naruto get better too… so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable."

Sakura pouted but averted her eyes back at the blond. Kakashi seemed to be smiling, and Sasuke could've sworn that the jounin winked at him… if it hadn't been for the one eye thing. Either way, Sasuke felt his face heat up.

Naruto continued to eat. _'Strange… they haven't even asked if I want to be taken care of.'_

-

The next two days would bore Naruto out of his mind.

With staying up late at night, wallowing in your own pain, and sleeping late into the afternoon, Naruto found that doing nothing was all he could do. Every time he started moving, his muscles would seize up in cramps and send flaring pains throughout his whole body. Sure he took the medicine, but it didn't seem to be working… only when he took the nighttime stuff. Naruto always zonked right out.

_'Its so troublesome!'_Naruto swore to himself. There was this one time he needed to use the bathroom, and he seriously thought he wouldn't make it!

Sasuke always came by around seven in the morning to make him breakfast and keep him company. Sometimes Naruto would fall asleep with his head in Sasuke's lap, or sometimes he just straight up cuddled with the raven. Sasuke had said that it didn't bother him when Naruto did it, even though he had a chance to get sick. _'And he won't. this isn't something that is contagious.'_

Naruto slowly twisted his neck, looking at his alarm clock. _'He should be here any minute.'_

Then, on cue, the door to his apartment opened, letting him know that Sasuke was here. Naruto closed his eyes, feeling an odd sense of relief overwhelming him.

Sasuke quietly came into the room, "Naruto?"

The blond peeked his eyes open. "Yeah?"

Sasuke smiled, "Nothing, just wanting to see if you were awake." he leaned down, kissing Naruto's forehead. "Ohayo."

"Hn." Naruto breathed out, sighing. Kakashi had cancelled their meetings in the morning until Naruto had gotten better, leaving Sasuke and Sakura to have the rest of the day. Naruto was expecting Sakura in two hours.

The Uchiha checked the blond's temperature. When the electric thermometer beeped, Naruto let it fall out of his mouth and turned on his side, pulling the covers more around himself. _'I'm starting to get cold.'_

Sasuke frowned, "102.9 ºF." he looked at Naruto, his cheeks starting to look even more flushed. "Your fever went up."

"Hn." Naruto shivered. "I'm cold." he reached for Sasuke, wanting him to cuddle. Sasuke sighed, setting the thermometer down. "You're delirious Naruto, you're burning up." he moved to sit on the bed, just as Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's waist. "I'm still cold."

Sasuke sighed, running his hands through blond strands. _'I'm really starting to get worried. Its steadily getting worse.'_Naruto breath slowly evened out, letting Sasuke know that he was asleep.

At this point, Sasuke really wanted to take the blond to the hospital so that a doctor could have a look at him. _'If his fever gets any worse, I'm going to drag him to the hospital.'_Sasuke looked down at the blond feeling an affectionate smile tug at the corners of his lips. Naruto looked so much like a child when he was like this. It was weird to think of him as such… but when the Uchiha thought about it, they were all still children. Age wise.

Mentally, they were sixteen. At least that's what Itachi told him.

But looking back on it, Naruto was never really a child, mentally. He grew up as an orphan and took care of himself, needing to know the necessities to be healthy. Sasuke idly wondered if Naruto sometimes forced down the vegetables that tasted horrible, just to get the nutrition. He didn't have anyone to make him eat them. He never had parents to take care of all his wants and needs. Looking at him now, made Sasuke want to protect him just like a loved one would… protect everything that the blond would have and hold dear. _'Even if he's hurt, I'll love that wound 'til its healed.'_Sasuke promised the blond.

Naruto mumbled to himself, shifting slight.

An hour later, Naruto having ate/bathed/rested, sat on the couch, wrapped up like a burrito, happily sipping some water. Everything still hurt like hell, but if he stayed still long enough, then it would dull to an ache.

Sasuke plopped down next to him, holding the thermometer. "Lets take your temperature again."

Naruto frowned, "I'm fine." he sipped his water again. _'I can't let him take my temperature… I'm getting colder, so my fever must've gone up.'_

"C'mon, you may feel fine now, but I need some reassurance." Sasuke poked Naruto's cheek as he took the water away. "Let me take your temperature."

Naruto flopped down on his side, holding in a hiss, and pulled the covers over his face. "I said I'm fine!" came his muffled response.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead. _'Why is he being so difficult? Its not a big deal to take his temperature unless…!!'_

The covers were yanked from Naruto's frame, and a warm hand pressed against his face, "Naruto! You're fevers gone up!!" Sasuke yelled out, taking that time to pop thermometer into the blond's mouth and holding it there.

Naruto struggled as much as he could but the little device beeped before he could remove it.

Sasuke, straddling Naruto on the couch, looked at the numbers and started swearing. "103.2 ºF, Naruto! Its gotten worst!"

"Well it doesn't help when you're fighting someone when you're sick!" Naruto growled out, still trying to move out from under Sasuke.

The Uchiha scowled, "I'm taking you to the hospital. Nothing is making you're fever go down and I'm really starting to get scared! You could die from a fever, Naruto! Don't you know that!?"

Naruto's breath started to become labored but Sasuke didn't notice. "I'm. Not. Going. To. The. Hospital."

"Then I'll drag you there, kicking and screaming." Sasuke threatened and then suddenly noticed out flushed Naruto was. "Naruto? Are you-"

The front door opened, and Sakura walked through, seeing the sight of Sasuke straddling a red faced Naruto. "Sasuke! What are you doing to Naruto-kun!?" she ran forward and yanked him off of the blond, quickly moving to hug him as he sat up. "Naruto-kun? Are you ok?"

Naruto's temperature had spiked and made him feel oddly colder. "I'll be fine." he unconsciously leaned onto her, attracted to her warmth.

Sakura's head snapped to Sasuke who was had been thrown on his ass. "Sasuke! Naruto-kun is sick! You have to treat him more delicately!" she tightened her arms around the blond, rubbing his back. _'He should know better!'_

Sasuke growled to himself.

- - - -

"M'cold." Naruto muttered, wanting another blanket. Both Sakura and Sasuke had refused. "You can't have another blanket." Sakura said, "You're having cold sweats and that's your body's way of cooling itself down. Its ok to have one blanket but I'm not giving you another." She threw a glare at Sasuke, "And you can blame Sasuke, if he hadn't been manhandling you, then your fever wouldn't have gone up."

The blond scowled as his teammates sat on either sides of him. What has so wrong about giving him another cover?! He wasn't even sick!

_'But I can't tell them that.'_Naruto thought again, sighing, another set of shudders raddled his frame.

To his left, Sasuke was mentally scowling himself, still angry that Sakura had walking in when she did. _'I should've locked the door when I came in this morning.'_he thought, not wanting the rosette here any longer. It was bad enough that she had thought that he was deliberately riling Naruto up, when he wasn't, but she had practically taken over taken care of Naruto. _'I'm suppose to be taking care of him!'_

Sakura, on the other hand, was constantly checking on Naruto's color and temperature. The first day that she had seen that Naruto had gotten sick made her extremely protective over the blond. Seeing the blond sick made had her think that Naruto was actually human, rather than think that he was an actual angel. Angels didn't get sick like Naruto was… she wanted to make sure that Naruto did things that that would make him get better sooner. 'I'm _so worried, though… his fever had been getting worst ever the past few days… with the medication and sleep, his condition should be getting better rather than worst. Why is isn't his fever going down?'_

As the hours went by and the daylight grew darker, his two teammates left his house, Sasuke making sure to give him a kiss before he left and Naruto was left to wallow by himself in his own pain. Regardless of the medication, his agony was getting far worst making him wonder if he'd be able to stand at all in the morning. _'What is going on with my body?'_ was his last thought as the nighttime medicine kicked in, making him fall into a blissfully deep slumber.

- - - -

_'Its raining.'_Sasuke thought, laying in bed, seeing the water running down his window. The night would flash into daytime for half a second as lightning struck, sending thundering sounds throughout the land.

But it wasn't the thunderstorm that was keeping Sasuke up. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong but he just couldn't figure out what it was. But every time his thoughts strayed from it, his mind always went back to Naruto, who was still sick and sleeping alone in a tiny apartment.

Lightning flashed again and Sasuke finally got tired of laying there. _'I can't take it anymore… I have to go see him._' he thought, throwing the covers off of his frame.

Sasuke wasn't the only one who wasn't able to sleep and seemed to think that something was wrong. Itachi jumped out his own window, disregarding the heavy rain that was falling. _'I could be feeling restless. Ill take a walk. Maybe it'll calm me down.'_ he thought, knowing that it might not be the case but was willing to hope. Something about tonight didn't feel right and he felt that something abnormal was happening. _'But what could be so abnormal, that it would cause rain to fall?'_Itachi jerked his head, moving some wet hair out of his face. It was then that he noticed his brother's chakra, moving away.

The younger Uchiha had quietly left his house and was briskly jogging down a path that would get him to Naruto's place faster. _'Is Naruto alright? Is that why I'm so uneasy?'_

- - - -

_'Something's wrong.'_Naruto thought, his eyes opening, a strange sense of panic going through him. But why?

Naruto's heart was thudding fast, his skin was damp with sweat, he couldn't seem to make his eyes adjust; making everything blurry. What was going on? Other than being ridiculously hot and his body having huge flares of pain, more than yesterday, something else wasn't right. His body seemed to be telling him that he needed something vital.

It was then that he realized that he wasn't breathing.

Naruto's eyes went wide at this, parting his lips, willing his lungs to take in air.

It wasn't working. Why wasn't his lungs working? Naruto force a sliver of air but mind numbing pain shocked him, pushing whatever was in his lungs, out immediately. He needed air, why couldn't he have it? Why weren't his lungs working?

The huge burning sensation that started in his stomach, and kept getting worse and worse, seemingly spreading throughout his body in waves. The pain that made it even harder to draw in air was slowly but surely, blurring his vision .

There wasn't a sound in the apartment as Naruto suffered silently, flashes of lightning whitening his distorted vision. His ears, still working, suddenly caught a sound in the distance… or was it in the distance? Was it just in the other room? What kind of sound was it? He knew that there was a word for it… thumping? No. Knocking? No.

Naruto's mind, depleting on oxygen, was becoming fuddled and couldn't seem to work right.

_"Naruto?"_

That voice… he knew that voice. That voice could save him! Answer back! Answer back!

Sasuke, having arrived at Naruto's apartment, had quietly walked into the room. The blond seemed to be sleeping, but in the darkness, he couldn't tell immediately. "Naruto?" he whispered, still moving forward.

Lightning flashed through the open curtains, and Sasuke caught the image of Naruto's blue eyes, wide with fear, his mouth hanging open, his lips trembling.

Then, a quiet gasp, barely noticeable, escaped .

It hit Sasuke._ 'He's not breathing!'_his hand quickly went to the lamp, clicking it on, seeing how flushed and sweaty Naruto was.

"Naruto!? What's wrong?!" he yelled, shaking his shoulders but could see that Naruto was having a hard time telling him, so there was no point in asking, "Breath! _Breath!_" Sasuke held his face, insisting, his voice down right panicked. His mind and body was having a flash back of the wave country. The situation was almost the same except they weren't bleeding with needles protruding out of their skin. Why wasn't he breathing!? How long had he been like this?! What should he do?! If Naruto wasn't breathing… was he choking on something?

_'No, nothing is blocking his air way if he can gasp.'_ his mind provided calmly, completely opposite from how he was reacting on the outside. _'Get your thoughts together. You have to do something to save Naruto.'_

Sasuke yanked the covers off of him before leaning over him, pinching the blond's nose and blew air into his lungs through his mouth. _'I can breath for him.'_

Naruto's lungs inflated and slowly, things became less fuzzy. His nose was being blocked off and warm lips were pressed against his, blowing air into his lungs. _'Sasuke.'_ he thought, knowing those lips anywhere. _'Sasuke's here.'_the panic slowly receded, his heart slowing, knowing that everything will be alright. Naruto shakily rose his arm from the side, moving his hand to clutch Sasuke's shirt, holding on to his side.

Sasuke blew, watching Naruto's chest rose from the corner of his eye and pulled back, to watch it fall. The raven kept doing this, despite feeling Naruto grasping his shirt, wanting to be sure that no air was deprived from the blond.

With air being sent to his lungs, Naruto noticed that the pain he was in only a few minutes ago, was nearly gone now. He continued to lay there, letting Sasuke breath for him, never being so thankful to have him here. If Sasuke wasn't doing something else with his mouth at the moment, Naruto would've kissed him. _'I want to.'_

Sasuke pulled back to watch Naruto's chest fall and was about to blow more air when Naruto gasped again, taking in his own air. "Naruto?!" he called out to him, seeing the blond inhale a bit more. "Are you alright?!"

Naruto worked his finally cooperating lungs, breathing unsteadily for himself, making sure to nod. His lungs faltered in a breath, making him gasp weirdly; immediately, Sasuke's lips were back in place, blowing more air into is lungs.

Naruto took that time to push his tongue into the Uchiha's mouth, the hand that was clutching his blue shirt, wrapped around his waist and threw him down on the bed. The blond took advantage of his angle, quickly moving to loom over Sasuke, kissing him more passionately.

Of course Sasuke, being more worried than anything, pulled back. "Naruto!" Sasuke protested as he went to the raven's neck, kissing the area. "I'm worried about you! What the hell happened!? Why weren't you breathing!?" the Uchiha caught Naruto's face, holding it. "Talk to me!"

Naruto looked down at the agitated raven, feeling the huge urge to smile. For some reason, Sasuke looked really cute right now, seeing his usually pale face, flushed. "I don't now… I just woke up and couldn't breath." he said, gently laying his hips between Sasuke's thighs. This position somehow feeling normal, even through they'd never been in it before. His body was practically screaming the rightness of it. "That's when you came in." The urge to kiss the raven was still there. "I think I can breath on my own now."

"This is serious!" Sasuke said, "Lets go to the hospital now!" he sat up on his elbows, nose to nose with Naruto. "This is obviously something life threatening, Naruto! You almost died just a week ago and now this?! I don't want anything happening to you!"

Naruto actually considered the thought but suddenly realized that he felt great. Far better than he had a few minutes ago. _'Its as if nothing was wrong with me.'_

"Naruto!" Sasuke caught his attention again, pushing him back by the shoulder. "Get up! We need to get going!"

"I feel fine now." he said calmly, knowing what kind of reaction he was about to get.

"What the fuck are you saying!? You couldn't breathe!! You're not fine!" Sasuke rose his hand, "I bet your temperature went up and that's why you…" he stopped, the warmth from Naruto's forehead was natural. Sasuke gritted his teeth, quickly moving his hand to the side table, grabbing the thermometer and slipping it into his mouth.

The little device beeped and Sasuke looked at it.

98.4ºF

The raven stared, wide eyed. What was going on? Naruto had been sweating profusely and now.. It seemed his fever broke.

Naruto pushed Sasuke back, making him lay on his back and he situated himself on top of him, laying his head on the Uchiha's chest. "I'm fine now… I don't know what happened, but I'm fine."

Sasuke stared at the ceiling. "We should still go to the hospital. Even though your fever is down, I'm still worried that something else will be wrong." his hand went to Naruto's blond hair, stroking it, as if to reassure himself that Naruto as alright.

"And what are you going to do when there isn't anything wrong?" Naruto murmured, suddenly becoming very tired.

"I just want to take you there to make sure." Sasuke said, "If they say that everything is alright, then I'll be much better hearing it." _'But why couldn't he breath?! And how did his fever break so fast?!'_

Naruto chuckled, "Would you mind if we went in the morning? I'm tired." he said, planning to convince Sasuke in the morning that he was fine, so that they won't need to go. Plus, he suddenly wanted someone next to him as he slept. The thought of not waking up alone was appealing.

It was silent as Sasuke debated and Naruto took that time, to move from him and lay down next to the raven. "Just sleep."

Sasuke sighed, the dampness of his clothes catching his attention. "I'll need something to wear so that my clothes can dry." he looked at Naruto's alarm clock. "And I have to get back home before anyone else wakes up."

"Fine, fine." Naruto pointed to his dresser, "Top left drawer are some sleeping clothes. Slip into those."

It took the Uchiha five minutes to do so before he came back to the warmth of Naruto's side. After he turned off the light, Sasuke shyly inched closer. "Is it alright…" he stopped, gathering his nerve, "if I move closer?"

Naruto peeked his eye open, "I won't stop you." he laid his arm out so that Sasuke could rest his head on it.

The Uchiha scooted closer, moving to situate next to the blond.

It was pleasantly warm being right next to Naruto. Especially after running in the rain and such. Sasuke rested his arm on the blond's waist. He had never slept so close to anyone like this before. _'Its nice.'_ he thought, nestling his head closer, more under Naruto's chin.

Naruto, closing his eyes, let his mind rest, falling into a deep sleep. Something about Sasuke being close was oddly settling to him. The blond was out in mere seconds.

Neither did the two know, Itachi was looking in through the window, his sharingan blazing brightly in the dark rainy night.

- - - -

"Oi."

Sasuke clenched his eyes, snuggling deeper into the warmth. He didn't want to move just yet.

"Didn't you say you needed to get up?"

_'No.'_Sasuke thought. Why would he want to get up when he felt so comfortable? It would be madness if he got up on his own.

The warmth around him, shook slightly. "Oi… get up Sasuke."

Sasuke moaned in protest. "Don't wanna." he buried his nose into something soft. _'Mmm… something smells good.'_

"Well, you're going to have to." The warmth moved from underneath him and shifted him to the side. "I have to use the bathroom."

"Huh?" Sasuke opened his eyes, seeing Naruto crawl over him and hurry to the bathroom. The Uchiha looked towards the window and could see the early morning skies. "What time is it?"

"6:55!" Naruto yelled from the bathroom, reappearing moments later. "I was trying to get you up so you could go home."

He sighed before moving to stand. "Your bed is comfortable."

Naruto shrugged. "Its ok." he looked at the clock, judging the time. "Do you think you have enough time to eat breakfast?" he scratched his head, looking at Sasuke. The clothes Sasuke had borrowed one of his older set of night clothes. He could tell because the shirt was a little shorter, letting Naruto see a sliver of Uchiha's stomach.

Sasuke stretched, raising his arms in the air, letting the blond see his navel. "No… my family wakes up really early." he brought his arms back down. "Okaa-san is probably waking up to cook breakfast."

"Okay." Naruto shrugged, moving to the drawer, looking for some clothes. It didn't really matter to him, Naruto was just feeling grateful for last night and felt the need to do something for the raven. 'And _it looks like Sasuke already forgot about taking me to the hospital. Good, I don't feel like going anyway.'_

Sasuke, suddenly feeling remorseful about leaving, came up behind him, hugging the blond's back. "Sorry."

"About what?" Naruto stilled his hands as something unknown flickered in the back of his mind. _'What was that?'_

"It would've been very nice if we could've eaten together… maybe tomorrow?" Sasuke boldly buried his nose into Naruto's neck. Something flicked again. It was like someone was trying to start a lighter, inside his head, but only managed to make sparks. _'Weird,'_Naruto thought, extremely aware of Sasuke's warmth. "Sure, tomorrow doesn't sound so bad." he managed a calm voice.

"Great." Sasuke said needlessly, kissing his cheek, tightening his hold on the blond. "But, can I get my good morning kiss first?" It felt like an eternity since he had kissed the blond. The urgency to do so was strong. He idly wondered if he was the only one who felt this way.

_'I don't ever kiss you, you always kiss me.'_Naruto thought, turning around. He didn't see the harm in it. "Whatever."

Out of habit, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck while the blond did the same with his waist; Sasuke eagerly leaned in, kissing him.

The flickering in the back of Naruto's head suddenly ignited a flame, making his whole body hot. The blond's arms suddenly had a will of their own, quickly tightening their hold on Sasuke's waist and his lips smashed harshly against the raven's. His own mind seemed to become numb as his body took control; his tongue lapping, hands running up Sasuke's back and the other sliding up the shirt.

Sasuke, completely overwhelmed by Naruto's force and aggressiveness and quickly submitted to him. Naruto's hands seemed to know exactly where to touch and rub, and his mouth was suddenly talented; alternating between suckling on his tongue and biting on his tongue. Where had this all come from? The kiss back in Naruto's hall way wasn't this good. When did Naruto become this good at kissing? Did he and Naruto feel exactly the same way? _'God, this feels so good.'_the Uchiha's back was suddenly flat against the bed, Naruto leaning over him, his eyes dark, hazy and had a redish tent to them. Sasuke suddenly remembered their fight with Haku. _'They were red then.'_

What did this mean? Was this really Naruto's kekkei genkai? He suddenly felt a certain area, between his legs, stiffen. The previous thought was completely forgotten as he felt Naruto ground against his hips. Sure he had thought about him and Naruto becoming intimately involved, but he would've never dreamed it would've been this good.

Naruto's hands suddenly had a sense of urgency as they pulled Sasuke's shirt off; his mouth instantly kissing the pale area the raven's chest. Sasuke's hands fisted Naruto's blond locks as he french kissed his navel and trailed up to his nipples, quickly drawing them into his mouth.

Sasuke hissed, feeling completely torn as Naruto bit and suckled on his perked nubs. _'It hurts but if feels so good…'_ his eyes clenched.

Naruto's mouth left him panting as he leaned over, _'I've never seen him like this.'_Sasuke looked up, seeing Naruto's unusually colored violet eyes. The blond seemed to be as out of breath as he was, even though Sasuke hadn't touch him. His eyes seemed to have his some sort of possession to them as he looked at Sasuke; a reminder of the past fight in the Wave country that sent chills up the raven's spine. _'I've never felt this way before…'_

Naruto leaned down, just about to claim Sasuke's mouth again when-

**BEEP-BEEP-BEEP**

The alarm clock rang, surprising them both.

Naruto's hazy purple eyes were suddenly clear blue as the mental flame was put out. _'What the hell just happened?!'_he looked down at Sasuke who was flushed, shirtless and breathless. _'It was like I was being controlled.'_

The raven looked at the clock, seeing it was seven o'clock, but really didn't give a damn. _'I want to keep going…'_he sat up on his elbows and fluttered kisses along Naruto's jaw. "Naruto… I love you." he whispered and was completely surprised when Naruto leaned away. _'Wha-?'_

Naruto, completely disoriented, couldn't find it in himself to continue. "I think you need to get going…"

Sasuke rose his brow, _'Now? Even after everything was going so well?'_ "Really?"

"Yeah." the blond replied instantly, getting off of Sasuke. "You need to get home." He walked away, picked up Sasuke's clothes and handed them to him. "You don't want you parents to worry."

Sasuke couldn't help but frown. "Naruto? Are you alright?" he sat up, aware of his arousal but ignoring it in favor of the blond. "Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no." Naruto stuttered for the first time, taking a step back. "I just need to think. Please…" he stood still, his eyes not meeting Sasuke's.

The raven took in his composure. Tense, fist clenched, bangs over his eyes; none of these were good signs. "A-are you sure?" Sasuke asked, feeling scared.

Naruto didn't answer verbally, but nodded.

Sasuke, numbly, moved to the bathroom and changed before walking out of Naruto's apartment. _'What just happened?'_

Inside, as soon as the front door closed, Naruto's back hit the wall as he slid down into a sitting position, his hands covering his face._ 'What was that?'_ his hands shook, his eyes peeking through tanned fingers showing his wide eyes. _'It was like something took over my body…'_

**TBC**

**First of all, I want to apologize a head of time for the errors. Remember, I still don't have a beta. Second, I haven't gotten around to replying to reviews, but I'll try to do it this time around ONLY if you have questions.**

Thank you for the reviews, everyone :) Love you lots!

**Please review!**


	7. Meetings

**Ah. Its been too long. **

**To those who are still keeping up with my story, I'm very sorry about the extremely loooong wait. This chapter is dedicated to you guys. Its been a very long two years. I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

**Meetings**

A frame shifted underneath the covers in the early morning hours. Slowly the teen roused from his seemingly deep slumber, groaning as he did so. _'God… no.' _Blue eyes blinked underneath the thick layer of warmth, as his body seemed to wake on it's own. This was an ever recurring event that happened every morning since his fever broke. Naruto unwillingly peeked out of the covers, glancing at the alarm clock, already knowing what time it was.

**6:32 A.M.**

The blond clenched his eyes before looking out the window, seeing the extreme early signs that the sun was nearing the horizon. The dark skies were lightened to a dark blue, majority of the stars already fading. The blond slipped back underneath the covers, relishing the warmth of his bed, wishing for more sleep but knew it was already too late.

Lately, Naruto was always waking up at least thirty to forty minutes before dawn for a reason he'd yet to figure out. He couldn't quite describe it, but it was almost as if something was just waking him. This sensation didn't alarm him, it humbled him oddly, even though in mind, the teen wanted more sleep.

Resigning himself, he sighed as he threw the covers off himself, sitting up. Idly, Naruto scratched his stomach before stretching, his arms extended over his head, popping various joints as he did so. _'That was so worth it.' _Quietly, Naruto padded to his bathroom, adjacent to his bed room, stripping along the way.

The pass few days had been oddly eventful.

He hadn't noticed anything the first day, with what had happened with Sasuke and all. But later that night, he roused from his sleep, his body demanding the toilet. So as he groggily sat up and moved out of his bed, he noticed something strange. The blond remembered blinking and staring at a pile of clothes on his floor and probably would've tripped over them on his journey to the bathroom if he hadn't seen them. Nothing odd there though, but it then occurred to him that he shouldn't have been able to see it in the darkness of his room.

The blond's eyes widened when he realized each colored article of clothing was strangely highlighted in the night. His heart had started to pound as he stood, urge to pee forgotten, and quickly looked around his room, amazed.

Naruto opened his bathroom door and turned the hot water in the shower on full blast before adjusting it. That night, Naruto had walked around his apartment, looking at it as if it was his first time there.

Warm water ran down his body as he ran his fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp.

At first, Naruto had thought his eyes were fooling him. _'Maybe it will be different if I look outside.' _He had thought, hoping that the moon was out, thus illuminating everything. As stupid as it sounded, he was willing to grab onto anything that would make sense of this. Frantically, Naruto pulled his drapes aside, looking at the outside world.

It was not so. There was even a new moon that night. _'Dear god, I can see everything!' _He could see the color of each individual building, the cat down the street ripping the trash bag in the trash can, a drunk staggering down the street trying to make it home. He could see everything in great detail also. Looking at the man, he could tell he hadn't shaved in a few days, the front of his shirt was wet, probably spilt booze on himself, hell he could even tell the man's eye color! Suddenly, Naruto felt faint as he closed the curtains. His vision had been sharpened, so much that he had nocturnal vision.

In the shower, Naruto finished washing his body and proceeded to grab the shampoo. Emptying some of its contents onto his hand, he worked it into a lather in his hair. _'But that wasn't the only thing that's changed.'_

When he walked away from the window, he noticed how.. heavy he was stepping. The hardwood floor resounded footsteps as it was but now, it sounded like he was almost stomping. Which was strange, cause he didn't feel as if he was walking any different. Naruto then corrected his walking, making it sound like regular walking to his ears.. but then realized he was practically in stealth. His hearing had been heightened also.

Tilting his head up, Naruto let the water hit his face before letting it run through his hair, the soap slid down his body before being sucked into the drain. The induced fever had definitely made some serious changes. His sight was never annoying but his hearing was another matter. At night, when everything is still, the blond could hear his neighbor's every move, snores, sighs and even sleep talk. The blond had lost many hours of sleep over this but still always managed to wake up before dawn, much to his dismay.

Otherwise, his senses were great. No one could sneak up on him, nothing escaped his observation and he even felt a bit more precise in his movements. After the night of this discovery, Naruto had spent most of his afternoons in Konoha, testing them. He had spared with Kiba numerous times, all of them, Naruto came out the victor, but the blond didn't feel challenged. He always had energy to spare. He always liked to end a spare dead beat and tired.

His first response was to find Sasuke but with that morning still fresh in his mind, he decided against it. Naruto still didn't know what he would tell the Uchiha. That morning had been so bizarre. All these emotions had ran through him in the second he'd kissed Sasuke; hunger, raw lust, animalistic possessiveness, and last but not least, heated arousal. Images came to mind of all the things he'd wanted to do to the Uchiha as Naruto pushed him down. Touch him, mark him, grind and rub their erections together and wanting to completely overwhelm Sasuke. Also the craziest thing was… he knew exactly how to do it. He'd never touched anyone like that in his life but he just… knew.

And it didn't help matters that their sensei had been put on a mission. He remembered the way Kakashi perched himself on his window.

_"Ohayo!"_

_Naruto stared, obviously in a bad mood after Sasuke left. The older had just taken it upon himself to just open his window as if it was his own house._

_"I thought I'd stop by and let you know that I'm leaving on a rather abrupt mission, so you three don't have to meet up in the mornings." He grinned._

_The teen frowned, "H-how long?"_

_"A week or so," Kakashi scratched his head, "if everything goes well." His eye zoomed in on Naruto. "Problem?"_

_Hastily, he shook his head. _

_The Jounin stared for a while longer before shrugging, "Alright then, I'm stopping by Sasuke's and Sakura's before I leave to let them know. Keep training until I get back."_

_Naruto straightened himself, "Yes sir."_

He remembered thinking '_Great.'_ Now that Kakashi was on a mission, seeing Sasuke any time soon wasn't set in stone. He would have to go out and actually hope to run into his teammate.

Then, on the third day, Naruto noticed something… odd.

Since the fever, he had also developed a massive appetite. Naruto could easily put away three helpings of food and still have room to spare. He had ran into Sakura that day while he was at the grocery store. As soon as their eyes met, she quickly greeted him with a warm embrace and resumed with talks of his wellbeing. They'd shopped together for a while before Naruto forced his mouth to moved, asking if she'd seen Sasuke and had gotten a particular response from her.

_Sakura frowned, "You haven't seen him either?"_

_Naruto shook his head, "I've been looking for him.." He swallowed his pride. "Do you know where he lives by any chance?"_

_The kunoichi shook her head, "Sorry." She sighed, "I hope everything is alright. Every now and then, I try to look for his chakra and I can't seem to find it." _

During the day, the blond would do the same and check constantly for the raven's chakra. During the nights, when he'd suddenly wake, he'd do the same thing; Sasuke chakra was nowhere to be found. Sasuke was masking his chakra which meant only one thing. The Uchiha was definitely avoiding him.. and this fact puzzled Naruto.

He knew Sasuke had to be confused, especially after what happened. They had an intense make out session that might've lead to something more if his alarm hadn't snapped him out of it. He had even initiated things only to stop when things, in Sasuke's eyes, were getting heated. Guilt hit the teen in his chest remembering the confused and hurt look on Sasuke's face.

Naruto turned the shower off, standing there for a brief moment. _'I can only imagine what he's thinking.'_ He blinked hard before pushing the shower curtains aside, tentatively stepping onto the carpet. He quickly grabbed the towel and started drying himself. _'But.. I don't understand why he would be avoiding me.'_

With Naruto, prolonged confusion only angered him. If the roles had been reversed, he would've found Sasuke that very day and demanded an explanation. He sighed at the particular thought. But Sasuke wasn't remotely like Naruto and he also wasn't trying to clear things up.

_'Plus,'_ Naruto sighed, _'every time I think about him, I **do** think about finding him but I still just don't know what to say.'_ Blue eyes glanced upward, seeing himself in the mirror. His thoughts strayed away from the Uchiha, idly looking at his stomach. _'…am I gaining weight?'_ He reached and pinched his side. He honestly couldn't tell. Maybe when he finally settled this with Sasuke, he'd work the nerve up to ask if he had. _'I wouldn't be surprised if I had with all the eating I've been doing.'_ He thought bringing to towel up one more time to catch the remaining water in his hair before tossing it into the hamper. He then padded out of the bathroom and went to his dresser, slipping on a clean pair of boxers.

Outside, the skies had brightened considerably, giving his apartment more light. Lately, Naruto didn't even use his electricity to illuminate the house. He figured his low light bill would help keep his refrigerator stocked.

As he stepped into his shorts, Naruto felt his stomach begin to quiver, an early stage of hunger. He knew all too well now that if he neglected it for too long, hunger pains would strike.

Naruto relocated himself in the kitchen, pondering lightly as he opened the frig. Quickly, he pulled out a small skillet and started frying two eggs. The added smells made his stomach quiver more, so he quickly made himself a small bowl of cereal and placed two slices of bread in the toaster. Three bites of the cereal later, he flipped the eggs over and resumed finishing the bowl.

The toast popped up, nice and golden just as he slid the eggs on a plate. Snatching one toast out of the toaster, he resumed inhaling the eggs and said toast. _'Hm… eggs over easy, just how I like them.'_ He licked his lips before moving to the sink and rinsing his plate off. The other slice of toast was still sitting innocently, waiting to be eaten. Naruto stated at if for a small moments. _'Hm. Wonder if I have jelly.'_ He honestly didn't know.

Two cabinets later, Naruto saw an unlabeled jar of jelly, place on the shelf. The teen frowned, not recognizing it. _'Where'd this come from?'_ he grabbed it, inspecting its contents. _'It looks homemade.'_

Blue eyes widened briefly, remembering that Sasuke had brought it when he was sick.

…

Robotically, Naruto pulled a knife out and started spreading the jelly over the lone toast. A bite, chew and swallow later, the blond's thoughts were back on Sasuke. _'…wonder what he's doing now.'_

…

Argh! Naruto threw the toast down, _'Fuck this!' _This shit had to stop! The more this went on, the more damage was being done!

_'This shit stops today!'_ he growled, unknowing his eyes turned violet. _'We're talking this out, now!'_

* * *

From a distance, Uchiha Itachi frowned. The Uchiha compound had a good piece of property owned specifically for training. It was in a good location, good being it was close to their home. All he had to do was go out the side door and walk down a slightly steep hill that over looked the grounds. He didn't visit it often, usually to see Sasuke and bring him home. Today was slightly different though. He'd noticed something was bothering his brother for the past few days. He had a slight hunch that it had to do with Naruto, since he had followed Sasuke that night.

The raven frowned remembering that night. He needed to talk to Kakashi, but since the Jounin was out, he was forced to wait till then.

The older, dressed in street clothes, ran his fingers through his hair. He decided not to tie his hair back today, so it easily came back over his shoulder. Sable eyes continued watching Sasuke train. This morning, his brother opted for target practice. Which wasn't out of the ordinary considering it was a leisure day, but it was actually Sasuke's performance that concerned him.

After seeing another throw, Itachi stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged down the hill. _'I figured he would've talked to me about it sooner.'_ The older wanted to pout at his thought but decided against it. Sasuke had always shared his troubles with his older brother; Itachi was starting to wonder when that had changed.

Situating himself at the bottom and slightly behind the younger, Itachi watched more. The other was aware of his presence how and he could tell Sasuke's concentration was wavering. Some throws were good, other's not so.

Four throws after, the elder decided to speak. "Sasuke,"

The younger grunted as he threw the kunai, hitting the second outer ring. "Yes?" He responded, reaching into his pouch for another.

Itachi watched the next throw, seeing it hit the third inner ring. "Is everything alright?"

Sasuke paused, sparing Itachi a glance. "Everything is fine." He cocked his head to the side, feigning ignorance. "Why do you ask?"

He blinked before pointedly looking at the target. It was littered with kunai and shuriken, none of them hitting the center, which was odd, even for Sasuke.

His brother just shrugged though, "It just not my day. So what if my throwing is off." He turned facing the target. Breathing deeply, Sasuke threw another, this one hitting the second outer ring.

Itachi couldn't help but wince at the next one throw, hitting the outer most ring. "You just plain suck today. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." Came the prompt answer, letting him know Sasuke was starting to get irritated.

The elder glared at the back of his brother's head. He then reached into his own pouch.

Sasuke sighed before raising his arm, just about to throw when a kunai whizzed past his head and sunk firmly into the middle of the target.

"Aniki…" Sasuke growled as he glanced over his shoulder. Itachi sat there innocently, his face blank but still had a hint of smugness in his eyes. The younger gritted his teeth; it didn't help the fact that his brother was further away from the target than he was. _'Bastard.'_ He thought, raising his arm, ready to send it flying when-

"Is this about Uzumaki-kun?"

-his fingers slipped on the weapon in mid-throw, making the younger miss the target completely and lodging it in a nearby tree.

Despite this, Itachi smirked. _'Bull's eye.'_ He opened his mouth to further question Sasuke when said person suddenly rounded on him.

**_"Will you just mind your own fucking business?" _**He roared, face flushed and teeth clenched in anger.

Itachi's eyes widened for a moment, honestly shocked at the raw display of emotion. _'Hm, wasn't expecting that.'_ He sighed, standing lazily and casually brushing himself off. "Okaa-san wants out back at the house for something." Itachi said moving forward and walking pass Sasuke, planning to go into town. But he was kind enough to murmur one thing.

"You still suck though."

Sharingan blazed, Sasuke gave a self-righteous yell, hefting a kunai at the back of Itachi's head. The elder, in turn bent forward, never faltering in stride and gracefully dodged the weapon, anger his brother even more.

"So obvious, Sasuke." Itachi said over his shoulder.

"Argh! I hate you, Itachi!"

From their home, Mikoto smiled, hearing Sasuke's declaration of 'love'. She giggled as she washed the dishes. "They get along so well."

* * *

Sarutobi silently turned the door knob as he closed the door to his office, avoiding the small click that came when securely closing the door. He then resumed tiptoeing down the hall, knowing which ways to walk to avoid his secretary. As he silently made his way down the main hall of the Hokage tower hall, his leg stepped on a loose wooden panel, making it creek lowly.

"Hokage-sama." His secretary seemed to greet; but to his ears it sounded threatening.

"O-oh," He smiled, wanting to play it off. "I didn't see you when I came in this morning. How are you?"

She gave him a long look before stacking a large amount of papers. "I'm doing fine."

"Oh well that's good to hear." The Hokage suddenly felt his brow sweat. "I was just on my way to the bathroom." He spoke evenly before making his way to the bathroom, planning to escape through the bathroom window when suddenly, his secretary threw him a ball out of left field.

"I think you deserve a good beak Hokage-sama." She gave him a sympathetic smile, "You came in early this morning and have been working four hours straight."

Sarutobi grinned, "You are too good to this old man." before walking away. "You can expect me back in two hours."

She nodded, resuming her work. "Yes sir. Please take care."

The sunlight warmed his worn skin as he stepped out the door of the Hokage tower and immediately, the old nin's stress seemed to fade with each pace he took.

Like clockwork, the further he walked from the tower, the more people smiled and waved, lifting his heart and spirits.

_'Good morning Sandiame-sama!"_

_"Hokage-sama! How are you?"_

_"Sarutobi-sama!"_

He sighed contently as he responded to their greetings, smiling at every one of them. He wasn't exactly headed for his lunch this afternoon, but rather walking towards a certain apartment complex. _'I haven't checked on Naruto in a long while.'_ Had it two, maybe three months since he had at least sat down and talked to him. The Kage wanted to always keep track of him. Hopefully he could catch him before he left his home.

The teen had always been an early riser. When Sarutobi had first taken the six year old in, Naruto always woken before him, either making breakfast or doing mild morning exercises and such. He never knew how the other did so, seeing the child go to sleep so late yet get up at the crack of dawn was beyond him. Didn't children sleep a lot? Sleeping was crucial at their age so that they could grow even more so in the future. Sarutobi remembered idly thinking about putting a sedative in Naruto's late night milk just to insure so but didn't want to risk their already fragile trust.

As he rounded the corner of the street, the apartment complex came into view just as the blond he was looking for, walked out the front door.

The old Kage immediately saw just how much Naruto had grown; shoulders were slightly wider, he was definitely taller and even his jaw line was becoming more defined. This brought a endearing smile to his face, watching fondly as the teen looked at the sky, obviously checking the time of day. Naruto looked a bit hurried. _'His hair is a tad longer than usual too.. I wonder if he even noticed.'_ Sarutobi indeed seen how much of a young man the teen was becoming, but then again, Naruto had always been the only kid he had actually treated as an adult.

Initially, Sarutobi had been against him living on his own. He believed children were supposed to have at least one constant adult in their life. Someone they could have in the late nights, someone that would listen to them, to understand and console them.

But there wasn't anyone that was willing to understand Uzumaki Naruto.

Though, after two years, when seven year old had looked up at him and asked if he could live on his own, insisting that he could care for himself, the old man couldn't.. didn't have the heart to say no. Naruto had never gone out of his way and asked for things. He just always took was he was given without any comments and simply said "Thank you Hokage-sama." Sarutobi grinned as he continued watching Naruto remembering how many times he had checked up on the child and overall, how much of a nuisance he must've been. Every time he had, though, the child was fine. Naruto ate well for a seven year old on his own. He had even sat and watched the blond eat steamed spinach without so much as a grimace. Hell, Sarutobi had a hard time watching because he hated the stuff and blurted out, asking if Naruto liked spinach. He got a simple answer.

_"If I had parents, they would want me to eat everything on my plate."_

The adult-like teen spotted him and the nin could see the look of surprise on his face. "Hokage-sama." He breathed as he walked closer.

Sarutobi couldn't help but smile as a sudden burst of fondness erupted in his chest. "Naruto, it's been so long." He took a few paces forward as his hand rose, messing the already upheveled spikes. "You've grown." He stated, the corners of his eyes crinkled as his smile widened.

The younger looked at the Kage for a good while before replying. "Did you expect me to stay short forever?" Sarutobi then watched the blond frown for some unknown reason. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

The older nin mimicked the frown, sensing something off about Naruto. "No. I am your legal guardian until you're fifteen; i just wanted to check up on you." Sarutobi stated, "How have you been? Is there anything you need?"

The blond immediately shook his head. "No sir. Everything is fine."

"Then why do you look like you have a mission?" The elderly man pulled out his pipe and leisurely started packing it with tobacco. "And i know that I haven't assigned you one, considering Kakashi being away."

Naruto's eyes widened briefly before covering up his reaction. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sarutobi gave the teen a dry look as he was about to light the pipe. "...so we're going to play this game?"

The two stared at one another before the younger sighed, "I'm just looking for someone."

The Hokage continued looking at the teen, smoke rising from his pipe.

Naruto snapped his eyes elsewhere, "There's been a misunderstanding."

"Ah." The older man grinned, "Well, at least you want to clear it up."

Naruto nodded, still standing there. "Yes, and I'd like to go looking... for that person."

"Then I guess i should let you go." Sarutobi turned around. "...do you think you can do me a favor?" The Hokage didn't have to turn around to know that Naruto was giving him an aggravating look.

His answer was silence.

"If you see my brat, tell him I'm looking for him." He looked over his shoulder, seeing a surprised look on the teen. _'What? Did he think I'd ask him something harder?'_

"I.. can do that Hokage-sama." Naruto nodded, standing slightly straighter.

Sarutobi winked_, _"Thanks kid. Good luck with your misunderstanding." He bid the blond farewell_. _

_'Now... what do I want to eat?'_

* * *

_'Its... a beautiful day._' Aquamarine eyes blinked lazily as he watched Konoha from the Hokage Mountain. The vast blue sky was littered perfectly with good patches of clouds, giving various parts of the village definite shade while the rest bathed warmly in sun. The wind also seemed to be in favor, cooling ones skin with a small breeze_. 'Or maybe I can just feel it because I'm so high up.'_

But he couldn't deny that Konoha was a beautiful place. The exact opposite from the barren desert of Suna.

"Gaara-sama."

The red head blinked before looking over his shoulder. A sand-nin stood behind him, rising from his deep bow.

"It is time to start looking."

Gaara blinked again, "I still don't know what I'm looking for." He went back to looking at the village. "How can you expect me to do this with so little information?"

"I apologize." The nin lowered his eyes. "But-"

"You're just here to follow me around?" The teen interrupted. "How irritating."

The older nin flinched. "I-I"

"Just talk as less as humanly possible," Gaara moved away from the edge, brushing past him. "and maybe we'll get along."

Obviously shaken, the sand-nin nodded, "As you wish, Gaara-sama.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!"

The Uchiha gritted his teeth. God, it just wasn't his day. First Itachi, now Ino? When will it stop?

Said blond appeared next to him, beaming. "Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Her eyes were twinkling. "I haven't seen you in forever. How have you been?"

He instantly noticed how her attention was quickly diverting to looking around him. Obviously looking for Naruto. "Been better." Sasuke muttered. "Anything I can help you with?" Sasuke knew he was being short, but he didn't really care at the moment.

She seemed to catch his too. "No, nothing particularly. Just wanted to see your face. " the Uchiha glared, _'As if.'_

"Well, you've seen it." Sasuke walked past her, dismissing her. _'Just talking to her had drastically shorten my fuse.'_ He was almost out of ear short when he heard the Yamanaka whisper, "Wow… what crawled up his ass."

The raven almost turned around and made a scene. Almost. _'Ugh, I need to relax.'_ The teen sighed, rubbing his temples. Sure he thought such a thing, but doing so was a completely different matter.

_'Naruto… what are you doing right now?' _Sasuke wondered hopelessly as he opened his eyes. He had never been more confused then he was at this moment. That morning, it started out so good; waking up next to Naruto was definitely the best way to start the day.

And the kissing, _'The best.' _Naruto had never been that passionate before. Sasuke's back tingled at the mere thought. He had even thought they would get pass the kissing and to the groping stage. Sasuke knew his hands wanted, still wanted to touch the expanse of the golden skin.

But then the blond's alarm went off, seemingly snapping them both out of it. Sasuke remembered the arousal like nothing else and was more than happy to continue but-

_"Naruto," he breathed, looking at the blond, "I love you."_

_Naruto's demeanor changed as he looked elsewhere. "I think you need to get going."_

A pain, sharper than any kunai known, pierced his chest at the memory. He had told the blond that, so many times before, so why? Why did he react that way then?

Maybe in that moment, when Sasuke had said it, Naruto realized just what this meant to the Uchiha?

Or maybe Naruto thought that because Sasuke was getting intimate out of love, it wouldn't be right to continue?

Did that mean Naruto didn't feel anything for Sasuke?

So many questions swirled in his head, making Sasuke stop walking, his hands shaking at the fierceness of it all. He knew that he loved the blond more than Naruto cared for Sasuke.. he knew. But if he didn't care about Sasuke, even just a little bit then-

Pale hands clenched. _'I don't have the right to keep him to myself.'_

The thought that Naruto didn't care for Sasuke scared the Uchiha. If their bond were to go back to a weaker one, friends to say the least, Sasuke wouldn't know what to do. He was apart of Sasuke's heart and everyday life! Hell, he was suffering the whole time since he'd last seen the blond!

"Konohamaru-kun!"

A little girl shrieked, distress evident in her voice.

"Hey asshole, put him down!"

_'Sakura?'_ Sasuke frowned quickly putting his thoughts aside and lengthen his strides. As he neared a fence corner, he found Sakura with two kids behind her. A head of her, some freak with make-up on his face was holding Konohamaru by the neck of his shirt, obviously choking the poor kid. One thing stood out the most though, _'He's from Suna.'_ His eyes narrowed at the thought. Konoha and Suna weren't on the best terms right now, but he could seriously care less.

_'This guy better take a hint.' _Sasuke reached near his feet, picking up some small rocks.

Sakura clenched her fist, stepping forward. "I'm warning you!" she didn't want to fight these guys due to the exams, but if it was Konohamaru, she'd gladly do so. "Put him down or-" Something flew past her head, smashing into the sand-nin's face. "Ow! Son of a bitch!"

"Put the kid down."

The rosette's green eyes brighten as she turned around. "Sasuke!"

Now that Sasuke had stepped out and was facing the nin, he could see a blond girl with four pig tails behind him. But it was her incredibly big fan that caught his attention. _'That thing must weigh a ton.'_ His eyes took in the material of it all, knowing it's flaps were metal. She had stepped forward, seeing that her teammate had been struck.

"Fuck you!" Clown Face, Sasuke dubbed him, spate and pointed with the other hand not holding Konohamaru. "How low of you to strike while in hiding!"

Sasuke was quick to respond. "How low of you to pick on some kid, half your size and age." He clenched his fist, grounding the rocks in his fist to fine dust. "Now be a good boy and put the kid down." He glared, "I'm in a really shitty mood today." A vein was pounding on his temple. However this ended, Sasuke felt like a fight would calm his nerves.

Konohamaru took that chance to kick his captor in the gut, startling him enough to loosen his grasp and release him. Quickly and clumsily, he ran and took refuge behind Sakura.

"Why that little fucker!" The nin gritted his teeth while soothingly rubbing his stomach with one hand while unclasping hidden shape off of his back. It hit the ground with a solid thud, letting Sasuke get an idea of its weight. He didn't quite understand what it could be since it was wrapped up.

"Kankurou, you're taking things too far." The blond kunoichi said behind him, warning him to stop but Kankurou wasn't listening though. He was just about to unwrap it when the most unexpected person showed.

In a blur of orange and yellow, a figured jump from the tree from the far right, landing softly in a crouch.

Sable eyes widened as the figure stood, revealing familiar spikes of the person who'd plagued his mind every waking minute of the day.

"Naruto." His lips breathlessly formed his love's name. His whole being screamed at him to run and embrace the blond but he clenched his fist, controlling himself. Now wasn't the time nor place for such but god! It was so hard not to!

Unexpectedly, Naruto ignored the sand-nins and turned facing his teammates. Blue made brief eye contact with Sasuke, electricity shot through him making his chest tightening, before blinking in the direction of the kids. "Konohamaru."

"Nii-san?" The brunette was still shaken but walked to the blond.

Naruto raised his hand, patting the kid's head. "Everything alright?"

Konohamaru's dark eyes flickered fearfully at the nin's behind Naruto before nodding. Naruto's gaze didn't miss a thing though but said, "Hokage-sama is looking for you."

"Oyaji! W-when did you last see him?" Konahamaru was now twiddling his fingers, a clear cut sign that he was in trouble. Naruto turned the boy around, "About fifteen minutes ago. Now go."

The younger looked up at Naruto for a long moment before nodding. "C'mon guys!" He spoke to his friends.

With their departure, Naruto once again locked eyes with his team before speaking, "Now I don't care to know what happened before I showed up," He then turned around, facing the pair. "but since the Chuunin Exams are coming up, participants aren't allowed to fight outside the exams. Reframe from doing so."

Naruto's neutral demeanor seemed to irritate the blond kunoichi. "You guy? Taking the exams?" She snickered, "Konoha doesn't have a lot to offer."

Sakura glared. "Watch your mouth."

"Don't waste your breath Sakura." Naruto ran fingers through his hair, his nose slightly in the air. "The weak are always the ones to mouth off first."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. "They have to compensate for something."

Naruto could swear he saw steam coming out of their ears as they fumed. Kankurou was just about to explode. "I'm tired of your shi-!"

"Enough."

The sand-nins froze, both eyes widened.

Behind them, materializing out of sand was a wavy red headed teen with extreme bags around his eyes. His skin was pale, too pale for living in the desert, with a red kanji 'ai' on the left side of his forehead. What stood out the most in Naruto's eyes was the huge gourd on his back. His aquamarine eyes were locked on Naruto, even though he spoke to his teammates. "I refuse to be disqualified because of your childishness." The gaze broke and a glare was sent their way. "We just arrived this morning and already you're being a nuisance."

The kunoichi lowered her head while the other just avoided eye contact.

Sasuke rose his brow. _'What an odd change of events.' _He watched the red head's eyes drill into them before going back to Naruto. Possessiveness boiled in his chest, not once had he looked at Sakura or himself. Just Naruto. Sasuke's jaw tightened, especially when he stepped forward, towards Naruto.

When close enough, the pale teen spoke. "I apologize for their behavior." Sasuke blinked watching the interaction. "May I ask your name?"

Naruto's face was passive and gave nothing away but as he responded, the Uchiha could tell there was slight confusion in his voice. "Give me your name and I shall give you mine."

Sasuke was expecting something else entirely since Naruto's response was arrogant but instead the red head lifted his hand, offering it, almost eagerly. "Sabaku no Gaara."

The blond felt he stared at the hand for too long. Everything in his being told him not to touch the nin. It was like two positive ends of a magnet being pushed together. Naruto blinked before looking up and seeing Gaara's intense gaze. _'He's definitely watching my every expression.'_ But none the less, Naruto offered his name. "Uzumaki Naruto." He turned around, "C'mon, let's go." He said, talking to his teammates.

Sakura followed without question, her attention easily diverted to him. Sasuke on the other hand, was shock/happy to see Naruto but couldn't shake his attention from Gaara. _'He's paying way too much attention to what's mine.'_ The Uchiha knew he shouldn't be thinking that way but he couldn't shake this feeling of... being challenged. Gaara then shifted his attention to the raven, staring. There was an emotion there that he couldn't quite decipher.

"Sasuke."

He felt his soul shift at his love's voice. _'I need to be with him right now. This.. can wait.'_ Sable eyes blinked before turning around, following the blond.

As soon as they were out of ear shot, Sakura spoke. "Geez, what was that guy's problem?" She huffed, crossing her arms. "_I_ should've just mentioned Konohamaru-kun was Hokage-sama's grandson."

"That could've helped at the time but it might've made things worst in the end." Naruto reasoned, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It was best that you hadn't."

"What had happened anyway?" Sasuke asked, oddly curious and also wanting to maintain a front that everything was okay. He didn't want her to get any idea that things were tense between Naruto and him.

"I was only walking by really. Those three were playing and Konohamaru-kun just wasn't paying attention and ran into that guy. When things escalated, I stepped in." Sakura narrated, looking at Sasuke from around Naruto. "You arrived shortly after that, thanks by the way."

Sasuke waved it off, "It was Naruto who actually calmly settled things. I probably would've fought him."

"You still would've handled things." Sakura lightly complimented him before gasping. "Oh! I was on my way to meet Ino!" She quickly jogged ahead, stopping briefly. "We should hang out tomorrow! It feels like we haven't been together in ages!" She yelled before continuing.

A blank faced Naruto waved while Sasuke just nodded. Silence settled over them, Naruto commenting, "Mmm, it has been a while."

Sasuke quietly sighed. "Yeah, it's been a few days."

The blond nodded, resuming his walk. "I've been looking for you

The Uchiha winced, walking after the blond but not walking beside. "I've been at home."

"You mask your chakra when you're home?"

Naruto sounded mad and this alone made the Uchiha frown. "I didn't think you'd be so anxious to see me."

It was horrible to start things off like this but none the less, Sasuke wanted to talk about this. Those past days had filled his mind with so many doubts and questions and he knew that Naruto alone would hold all the answers. He was here now. They should be kissing like Sasuke wanted but he needed to control himself. He _needed_ to know how Naruto felt about him.

"I just said you needed to go home." Naruto stopped his walk in favor of turning to the raven. Fixing his eyes on Sasuke he spoke once more, his eyes critical and calculating. "I never said 'I never want to see you'."

Sasuke felt irritation burn in the back of his throat. "Excuse me for feeling a little confused Naruto."

It was Naruto's turn to frown. "If you're so angry about it, why have you been avoiding me?"

The previous emotion faded slightly and was overshadowed by broken sadness. The way it showed on his face must've startled the blond because now, he had stepped closer. "..Sasuke?" His hands didn't seem to know what to do, almost as if he wanted to touch Sasuke but was afraid to do so. This tore at the Uchiha's heart, making him grit his teeth and clenched his fist.

"You told me to leave." Sasuke let his bangs cover his eyes as he gritted his teeth, his breath shuddering, "You told me to leave specifically after I said that I loved you."

Naruto blinked, remembering the lustful eyes of Sasuke just before his alarm went off.

_"Naruto, I love you."_

Damn.. it had happened that way. No wonder Sasuke was so hurt about this. Why hadn't he seen it like that? He opened his mouth to say something, _anything_, but the other teen beat him to it. "H-how do you feel about me. I need to know, Naruto."

"...I don't understand, why are you asking this all of a sudden?" A light blush dusted his cheeks. Sasuke had always been the one proclaiming his affections. Even before they.. started this weird thing, Sasuke had said that Naruto didn't have to say anything.

"Because that morning," Sasuke willed his voice to be steady. "you pulled this complete one-eighty on me."

The Uchiha didn't see the blond wince but heard him step closer once more. "I know- its just that-" he paused, "I didn't feel ready, it was too soo-"

"How do you feel about me?" Sasuke repeated the question. "Are you just tolerating me?"

"What?" Naruto exclaimed unbelievingly, "Of course not!" He then worked the nerve to clasp Sasuke's shoulders. "How can you even ask that?"

Sasuke finally looked up, his eyes incredibly sad. "because you still haven't answered my question." He saw the blond start sputtering but the Uchiha just shook his head. "It's alright Naruto. I know I can't make you love me but its enough for me to stay with you. I'm bothering you though so you don't have to stay with me. I don't want a relationship out of guilt and pity, not with-!"

Naruto's face was fierce now and gripped his arm tightly as he pulled them somewhere more secluded. Talking like this out in the open wouldn't do either of them any good. "N-naruto! Hey!" He pulled and weaved him and Sasuke around some trees before shoving the Uchiha up against a particular one. Immediately, Sasuke started shoving him away, cursing. "Ow, you bastard! What th-mmph!"

_'Ah.'_ Sasuke felt his eyes lid as Naruto encircled his arms around him, trapping his hands between them. _'Dammit.. this feels good.'_ The kiss was gentle, lingering and almost unsure but the blond's lips were unbelievable. _'Its been too long.'_ Sasuke let his eyes shut, hiding his glossy eyes. It was a chaste kiss but Sasuke felt that this was their most intimate kiss yet. It was so nice to be close after so long. "Sasuke." The Uchiha felt his name against his lips. "You.. _are_ important to me."

Sable eyes opened seeing Naruto's azure eyes at close proximity. They were so mesmerizing. Seeing such detail in the blond's irises but also seeing soft affection and hard regret, the emotions were cut off from him when Naruto sighed, closing his eyes. "I think about you every day." Arms tightened around the Uchiha's midsection. "I'm sorry that I made you feel this way."

_'Shit.'_ Sasuke cursed mentally. _'I am **not** going to cry.'_ He tilted his head down, trying to reign his emotions. "Then why?"

After a few seconds, a hand came, tilting his head upward. What he saw was a.. clearly embarrassed Naruto. This threw Sasuke off and even puzzled him further when he spoke. "T-think you can keep a secret?"

Sasuke couldn't help but blink. "When it comes to you, of course." Where was he going with this?"

Naruto hesitated before leaning in, tickling Sasuke's ear with his words. "When it comes to you," his voice was wavering as if his will was being drained to utter such words. "I always lose control."

Once more, the Uchiha had a flash of the Wave Country, seeing Naruto throw Haku's limp form to the ground. Another kiss was placed on his lips and through the contact, Sasuke could feel them tremble. "..and it scares me sometimes."

_'Scares..?'_ Sasuke frowned repeating the blond's words just moments ago. "Naruto, I don't understand." He leaned back, making eye contact.

Just by looking at the other, Sasuke could tell he was having trouble just forming the words. "You've always had this- like some kind of... effect on me." A sigh. "Before, certain things that you'd say would piss me off and I'd automatically say what came first to mind."

Sasuke pouted, still remembering some of the things that were said when he was still demanding friendship. The blond had been cruel with his words but now they were like a distant dream. Those words didn't matter anymore.

"And now.." Naruto coughed into his hand, looking elsewhere. "I still feel the same except for now.. I _react_ without thinking."

Sasuke blinked processing the words. _'He does care.'_ A warm feeling settled over him. "Its alright though because its the same for me."

"But.." Naruto was struggling again. "I'm not use to it."

Sasuke blinked once more, "So that morning when-"

"I just reacted.. kinda violently." Naruto winced, obviously remembering.

_'Well, I wouldn't say violently, passionately yes.'_ Sasuke smiled. "I like the way you," He paused, using Naruto's words. "reacted though."

"I could tell." Naruto was blunt and Sasuke took it like a punch in the gut. "But because you did, it really didn't help matters."

"Mmm.." Sasuke let himself enjoy the this feeling of happiness, leaning forward and resting his head on Naruto's shoulder." Care to explain?"

The raven felt the other tense and for a split second he was going to be pushed away and denied a response but then he heard a sigh. "I wanted to," the next part was whispered in his ear. "devour you."

An electric current ran up Sasuke's spine and arousal struck like a mallet. _'Fuck! I wish I could've recorded that!'_ He pulled back once more, feeling he couldn't get enough of the blond's facial expressions. Naruto was now red and simply refused to make eye contact, no matter how much Sasuke tried. _'He is so cute today.'_ Sasuke moved his arms, fiercely hugging the other's neck. "Then devour me until there is nothing left." He placed a small kiss to the lobe, "I'm all yours anyway.

He heard Naruto's sharp breath and the arms around his waist tightened. "Sasuke." He said warningly. "Don't."

Sasuke grinned against the blond's cheek, "I missed you." He confessed, feeling so light. "Incredibly."

"Then don't ever avoid me." Naruto smirked.

The Uchiha pulled away, pecking his lips. "Don't ever push me away then."

"Hn." There was an 'almost' smile on Naruto's lips. "Deal."

* * *

The two spent the rest of the day together at their leisure. They never actually had a conversation, just little yes or no questions. Right now, words seemed to be bothersome. All Sasuke wanted to do was just be near the other. The past few days of wanting to see Naruto were behind him but a tingle of longing was still there. At the moment, they were in a dense area in the training grounds were the forest canopy opened up to a partly cloudy sky. Lying on his back next to the blond, Sasuke breathed deeply. _'I feel so calm.'_ He briefly closed his eyes, enjoying the sun.

When everything was still enough, Sasuke strained his ears to hear Naruto's quiet breathing; this made him smile. He opened his eyes and gave into the urge to look at the blond, taking in his full figure. From head to toe, sable eyes took everything in; from long legs to broadening shoulders, Sasuke could seriously see small changes in Naruto. _'Did he have a growth spurt?'_ He thought, comparing their height when they were standing. At the time, he hadn't paid any attention but the thought of Naruto being taller than him didn't sit well. He wanted to always be as tall as the blond.

Unconsciously, Sasuke started frowning but as he started looking at the tanned skin of the other's neck, it slowly melted away. He didn't want to spoil the calm mood they had now with such little things. Right now, looking at Naruto's neck made the Uchiha want to mark it. _'Would he let me?'_ Sasuke blinked imagining a blemish there, a small mark of ownership. _'I wonder how everyone would react just seeing it.'_

Naruto lay very still, aware of Sasuke's eyes. It had surprised him that Sasuke hadn't come closer considering they hadn't been this close in four days. He was actually convinced that Sasuke would insist on cuddling for that fact. _'Wonder how long he'll sit this out.'_ He thought, almost smirking. He knew though, that it was only a matter of time and that Sasuke wouldn't be able to resist much longer. Just as he thought so, a warm hand tenderly smoothed along his cheek before moving upward and weaving though his hair. _'Fifteen minutes. Impressive.' _Naruto opened his eyes and he was met with the image of a needy teenager leaning over him. They stared for a moment before Sasuke started his decent _'This is for him.'_ Naruto thought, keeping his hands still. _'I won't take control at all.'_

Surprisingly, the kiss started off as slow savory and lingering pecks that seemed to melt him. They started on the lips, trailing upwards kissing his eyes, ears, brow before mapping downward; cheeks jaw, neck and even suckling on Naruto's Adam's apple.

"Naruto."

The blond opened his eyes, absently wondering when he had closed them, and looked at Sasuke with curiosity. "Hn?"

"I love you." His eyes watched Sasuke's lips move. "And even though you're right here." He buried his face in the crook of Naruto's neck, "I'm still missing you."

The other blinked. He almost repeated that he didn't understand but suddenly realized something. With the monthly visits with meeting the stranger, of course he missed the man when he wasn't there. But when Naruto was with him, he realized just exactly _how_ much he missed him. _'Just because the person you miss is in front of you, doesn't mean you stop missing them.'_ A rare smile forming his lips as his hand came up, threading though blue-black hair.

Sasuke was currently inhaling deeply, wanting to imprint Naruto's scent in his mind when soothing fingers combed through his hair. He went to pull back and look at the blond only to have his hitai-ate pulled down and over his eyes. "Naru-?"

Lips brushed teasingly against his own; the Uchiha breath caught.

"Sasuke, can you see me?" Without sight, Naruto's voice had so much depth. Patience, consoling and warmth all wrapped up in understanding. But the question made him frown. "No. Wha-?"

"But you know I'm here right?" A hand cupped his cheek. "Cause you can feel me."

"Uh, yeah." This conversation was confusing but it was nice being close like this. Sasuke smiled softly nuzzling Naruto's palm like a cat starved for attention. _'If only I could purr.'_ He'd definitely have to remind Naruto to do this more often.

The hand then disappeared, leaving Sasuke pouting. "And what about now? Can you still feel me?"

"Well, I can feel you because," Sasuke moved his hand, running it up and underneath Naruto's shirt, letting it feel the smooth skin of the blond's side. "I know you're there." He could feel the muscles tremble and twitch at his touch.

"And it should stay that way." A palm pressed onto the center of his chest, making his heart pound. "When I'm not here physically, I'm right here. Close."

Despite his heart melting, Sasuke smiled. "That's sappy."

The touch disappeared, "Well tough, that's all I have." and lips reappeared. This time, the raven took advantage, pressing Naruto down against the ground. Without sight, Sasuke was starting to get oddly aroused. He moved his hand, the one still in Naruto's shirt, to slowly trace his dusty nipple. The reaction was almost instant a soft gasp, which Sasuke swallowed up, and a small arch in Naruto's back.

"Sas-.. mmph." The Uchiha angled his mouth, wanting to consume more of Naruto's noises. His hand continued its movements, along with gently massaging the breast muscle and lightly pinching the now hardened nub. He felt Naruto's leg rise, his knee ran along Sasuke's right leg, coaxing him downward. He took the invitation, lowering himself and met Naruto's clothed and hardening erection. This time, Sasuke moaned. _'Oh.. I don't think I'll last long.'_ He felt his hips buck and Naruto's rolled back, both instinctually grinding with one another.

Their kiss was soon broken and Sasuke didn't make an attempt to reconnect as he discovered just how breathless he really was. Their grinding was becoming more frantic as they neared. Sasuke felt that he was even closer, even without his sight. _'I need to see him.'_ He pulled his hitai-ate off letting it fall to the ground. What he saw pushed him over the edge.

His blond hair was more upheveled than usual, Naruto's head was tilted back some, mouth parted in huffing pants but lidded azure eyes still watched Sasuke through the thick haze of their passion. Naruto was so flushed, more than usual, even when they spared. Sable eyes wondered downward seeing his orange shirt hiked up because of his own wandering hand but as Sasuke looked at Naruto's stomach; he watched it's muscles tense with each grind against his- '_Shit!'_

"Naruto." Sasuke whispered, shuddering as he came in his pants, finalizing his grinding. Panting and still holding himself over the blond, he worked on calming his heart when-

"Argh, you fucking would!"

Sasuke willed his eyes to peel open, seeing Naruto's face pinched in frustration. "Oh.. damn." Guilt hit him as he felt Naruto's tented erection against his waning one. "Sorry.. you're just too much."

"And that's why you should've kept that damn thing over your eyes." Naruto was pissed. Seriously. But despite facing the his love's anger, Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. "C'mon, don't be mad."

An icy glare was sent his way. "Get off me."

"Nope." Sasuke then promptly and firmly grabbed Naruto's between the legs watching blue eyes widen. "How close are you?" He questioned, visually taking everything in as he knead and rubbed him.

Naruto didn't answer any questions, only proceeding to bite his knuckle and let his hips move against the Uchiha's hand. _'God..'_ Sasuke felt himself start reacting again. _'He is seriously too much.'_ He moved his hand in ways that corresponded with Naruto's reactions. Sasuke then leaned up, kissing his love, feeling more of a responds through his hand. Naruto's groin tightened considerably. "Nngh.." Sasuke consumed the moan as a surge of dominance came over him. This was one of the first times he felt this; it was always Sasuke that initiated and Naruto who always led from there.

Suddenly, Naruto arched uncontrollably and he could practically fell the release against his palm. "Mmm, hmm!" The raven grinned as he pulled back seeing Naruto panting, his eyes closed in relief. _'I definitely want to see this again.'_ He leaned down again kissing his cheek. "I love you. So much."

Heavy lids pulled open and caught him like a moth in a web. Expect if Sasuke was a moth, he couldn't struggle if he was caught in Naruto's web. _'I'd let him devour me.'_ He thought as he watched Naruto lean up and kiss him.

With the end of the kiss, Naruto spoke. "Sasuke."

"Hm?" The Uchiha felt so content.

"Get off."

Sasuke stared. "Why?"

"Cause I'm sticky.. and I don't like it." he was gently pushed back. "Now move."

He grinned and let Naruto stand. "Does this mean you're going home?"

There was a light blush on the blond's cheeks as he stood, grimacing, obviously at the cum in his own pants. "Most definitely. And you should too."

Sasuke chuckled, "And if I follow you home?"

Naruto stared before replying. "Then you'll be met with a closed door.

_'Ouch.'_ Sasuke wanted to sulk. "Alright, fine." He stepped forward and felt his own stickiness. Ugh, home was a good idea. "I want to see you in the morning."

The blond grinned, "To train? Sure."

The Uchiha blinked, he had been thinking along the lines of other things but he guessed that was fine. "Yeah, sure. To train."

"Sounds good." Naruto seemed smug now. "I missed my training partner, so be up bright and early in the morning."

Sasuke watched Naruto walk away when an odd feeling came over him something definitely wasn't right. The blond must have something in store for him. He rose his arms above his head, "Oh well. No use in thinking about it now. I'll find out tomorrow."

**TBC..**

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**I've also noticed something. The chapter previous to this one is like.. gone! I'm here wondering wtf happened to it? If there is anyone who, somehow one way or another has it save or something (I won't ask questions) Please let me know! My computer is down so I have no way to access and re-upload it. I've been writing this chapter down in a spiral and typing it on my own time :P **

**Well that's it for this chapter. If there are any questions, please, feel free to ask ^^ Be kind and review!**

**-TheLightsShadow**


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